Pfizer to more than double price of its COVID antiviral once drug moves to commercial market
Pfizer Inc. will charge $1,390 for a five-day course of its Paxlovid COVID-19 antiviral when the drug moves to the commercial market later this year. That’s more than double the amount the company charged the U.S. government during the pandemic.
The government paid about $529 per course when it was making Paxlovid available to patients free of cost. The news of the price increase was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Pfizer
PFE,
confirmed the price in a statement, in which it defended the increase by noting that the new price is not necessarily what a patient will pay. The list price does not include rebates or discounts available to privately insured patients or pharmacy-benefit managers.
“Pricing for [Paxlovid] is based on the value it provides to patients, providers, and healthcare systems due to its important role in helping reduce COVID-19-related hospitalizations and deaths,” the statement said.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has said that Paxlovid would remain free through the end of the year and would be covered by Medicaid or be free to people without insurance through 2028. People with Medicare coverage will have free access to the drug through 2024.
Paxlovid reduced the risk of death and hospitalization by 37% in a study of 70,000 people led by the Cleveland Clinic that was published in September in the Journal of the American Medical Association, as the Wall Street Journal reported.
The drug can be taken orally at home.
Pfizer last week unveiled a cost-reduction program after low uptake of the latest COVID-19 vaccines, which hit the market in September, and a steep decline in demand for Paxlovid.
The cost-cutting program, designed to deliver savings of at least $3.5 billion, “will touch all parts of the business and all regions,” Pfizer Chief Financial Officer Dave Denton said on a call with analysts on Monday.
“We are right now in the middle of COVID fatigue, where everyone wants to forget about the disease, and we are experiencing a peak of anti-vaccination rhetoric,” Pfizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla said on the call. “Therefore we believe those who are getting vaccines and medicines in the current environment are people who believe in the value of protection and treatment and will continue this behavior in the years to come.”
The company on Friday shaved some $9 billion from its full-year revenue guidance due to reduced COVID sales expectations and said it now expects full-year adjusted earnings per share in the range of $1.45 to $1.65, versus $3.25 to $3.45 previously.
For more, see: Pfizer confronts ‘peak of anti-vaccination rhetoric’ as shares rebound
The stock has fallen 39% in the year to date, while the S&P 500
SPX
has gained 13%.
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