Bernie Sanders slams Moderna for planned COVID-19 vaccine price hike
After Moderna leadership revealed plans to potentially quadruple the price of its COVID-19 vaccine, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and others criticized the move.
In a report with The Wall Street Journal, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel stated the pharmaceutical company could price its vaccine between $110 to $130 per dose once it shifts from government contracts to commercial sales. That’s far above the current $26 price for a dose of Moderna’s booster shot. Comparatively, the original vaccine cost between $15 and $16 in earlier supply contracts, according to the WSJ.
Moderna reported its COVID-19 vaccine sales in 2022 reached $18.4 billion, and the company expects to see vaccine sales of a minimum of $5 billion from confirmed Advance Purchase Agreements and 2022 contract deferrals.
This price hike has caused a wave of backlash, including from Sanders, who penned a letter to Bancel urging him to reconsider.
“The huge increase in price that you have proposed will have a significantly negative impact on the budgets of Medicaid, Medicare and other government programs that will continue covering the vaccine without cost-sharing for patients,” Sanders wrote. “Your decision will cost taxpayers billions of dollars. Your outrageous price boost will also increase private health insurance premiums. Perhaps most significantly, the quadrupling of prices will make the vaccine unavailable for many millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans who will not be able to afford it.”
He also noted that current estimates show the cost of producing the vaccine is as low as $2.85 per dose, just 2.2% of what Moderna plans to charge. Sanders also pointed out that the U.S. government directly provided $1.7 billion to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine research and development.
Sanders further labored the profits from Moderna, noting that Bancel is a multibillionaire worth approximately $6.1 billion. In addition, Noubar Afeyan, Moderna’s chairman and co-founder, is currently worth $2.1 billion; Robert Langer, another co-founder of Moderna, is now worth $2.2 billion; and Timothy Springer, a founding investor in Moderna is now worth $2.6 billion.
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."