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Bharat Biotech says ₹150 per Covaxin dose price not sustainable in long run
The Hyderabad-based company defended the high price of the vaccine in the private market and said it should be allowed to maintain a differential pricing strategy for government and private hospitals.
Bharat Biotech, the maker of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine Covaxin, on Tuesday defended the high price of the vaccine in the private market. The Indian company said that the supply price of Covaxin to the Government of India at ₹150 per dose is a non-competitive price and not sustainable in the long run and a higher price is required to offset part of the costs.
"The supply price of Covaxin to the government of India at ₹150 per dose, is a non-competitive price and clearly not sustainable in the long run. Hence a higher price in private markets is required to offset part of the costs," the company said in a statement.
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The company said, as directed by the Government of India, less than 10 per cent of the total production of Covaxin to date has been supplied to private hospitals, while most of the remaining quantity was supplied to state and central government.
"In such a scenario, the weighted average price of Covaxin for all supplies realized by Bharat Biotech is less than ₹250 per dose. Going forward, ~75 per cent of the capacity will be supplied to state and central governments with only 25 per cent going to private hospitals," Bharat Biotech's statement further read.
The company clarified that the procurement of vaccines by private hospitals is optional and not mandatory, though it gives a choice to people who are willing to pay for better convenience.
The Hyderabad-based company said that it should be allowed to maintain a differential pricing strategy for government and private hospitals.
Last week, the Centre instructed private vaccination centres to not charge more than ₹780 for Covishield, ₹1,410 for Covaxin and ₹1,145 for Sputnik V jabs. These are the three vaccines being used in India as part of the nationwide inoculation drive.
The Centre also said that steps are being taken to put the required validations by the CoWIN portal to make sure that prices declared by several private Covid-19 vaccination centres do not exceed that mandated by the government.
