Pfizer is looking to convert its attractive coronavirus vaccine into an even bigger cash cow.
A top executive says the drugmaker sees an important opportunity when he once reaches the other side of the COVID-19 epidemic, charging more for a groundbreaking shot.
According to Chief Financial Officer Frank DeMelio, Pfizer set the prices it developed with its German partner, BioNotech, based on the need for governments to protect dosages and bring the virus under control.
For example, Pfizer is charging the US government $ 19.50 per dose – less than the $ 150 or $ 175 per dose it usually pulls for a vaccine, D’Melio said on the company Call of February earnings.
But “the general market situation will begin to kick in” as the global epidemic turns into an endemic, D’Melio said next week.
He suggested that those less-necessary conditions could play to Pfizer’s advantage, given that its shot is 95 percent effective, the highest rate among the three vaccines currently used in the US.
“Factors such as efficacy, booster potential, clinical utility will become fundamentally very important, and we see that, quite frankly, a significant opportunity for our vaccines, from a pricing perspective, our vaccine diagnostics. Looking at the outline, “D’Melio said during Thursday Barclays Global Healthcare Conference.
Manhattan-based pharma giants already expect sales of about $ 15 billion from the two-dose COVID vaccine, with a profit margin of more than 20 percent of this year’s total revenue.
DeMelio told investors last month that Pfizer could still make more profit after exiting the “epidemic-pricing environment”.
“Obviously, we’re going to get more on the price,” he said on Pfizer’s earnings call. “And frankly … the more we put through our factories, the lower the unit cost will become.”
According to DeMelio, Pfizer also feels that it is “steadily increasing” that people will need an annual booster shot to discontinue COVID-19 variants that have emerged around the world.
Pfizer has launched A study of a third vaccine dose to address variants.
“We don’t see it as an onetime event, but we see it as something that will continue for the future,” D’Amelio said.
Pfizer did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The company’s shares rose nearly 0.6 percent to $ 35.62 as of 10:16 am.
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