Pfizer and Moderna raise vaccine prices for EU customers

Reports say Pfizer increased the cost of a single shot from €15.50 to €19.50

A nurse administers the first dose of the Moderna vaccine to Tatiana Suarez, 15, in Spain on July 28, 2021. Reuters

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Pfizer and Moderna have raised the prices they charge European governments for their coronavirus vaccines, as EU leaders continue to face supply disruptions and reject rival brands over fears of side effects.

Pfizer increased the cost of a single shot from €15.50 ($18.40) to €19.50, according to a Financial Times report. The cost of a dose from Moderna rose from €19 to about €21.50.

The reports come after the release of Pfizer's second-quarter financial results last week, when the drug maker increased the sales forecast for its Covid vaccine by about a third to $33 billion.

The manufacturers of the mRNA vaccines, which are both more than 90 per cent effective, are expected to leap ahead of rivals in terms of earnings as they dominate the market in wealthy countries.

Life sciences consultancy Airfinity predicts sales of Pfizer’s shot will hit $56bn while Moderna’s sales of the vaccine are expected to reach $30bn.

The EU struck deals with Pfizer and Moderna earlier this year amid an intensely political row and subsequent court case with British-Swedish drug maker Oxford-AstraZeneca, which led to its vaccine largely being dropped from use. Concerns over side effects and blood clots have since been largely disproved.

EU officials have said the European Commission agreed to pay more for supplies from European drug plants to avoid supply problems. Both pharmaceutical companies declined to comment on pricing.

Last week, Pfizer said it would soon seek regulatory approval to give people a third or booster shot, and revealed it had already manufactured a new vaccine that primarily tackles the Delta variant, which has swept across much of the globe in recent months.