Bharat Biotech justifies high price of Covaxin in private market; says it's 'required'...

 Bharat Biotech justifies high price of Covaxin in private market; says it's 'required'...

Bharat Biotech has justified the price of its Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin in the private market by stating that it is needed to offset the unsustainable price at which it provides the vaccine to the government. Covaxin is supplied to the government at Rs 150 per dose, while the price tag for the private market is Rs 1,400 per dose.

"The supply price of Covaxin to the government of India 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 cost," the company said in a statement.

Bharat Biotech said that it has been following such differential pricing policies earlier too. "Human Papillomavirus vaccine is priced for GAVI supplies at $ 4.5 / dose (Rs 320), but is also available in the private market at Rs 3500 / dose. Rotavirus vaccines are supplied to the Govt of India at Rs 60/ dose, but are also available in the private market at Rs 1700 / dose. The prices for COVID-19 vaccines internationally have varied between  $10 to  $37 / dose, (Rs 730 - Rs 2700/ dose)", the company said.

According to the company, less than 10 percent of its total production of Covaxin has so far been supplied to private hospitals, while most of the remaining quantity was supplied to state and central governments. "In such a scenario, the weighted average price of Covaxin for all supplies realised by Bharat Biotech is less than Rs 250/dose. Going forward, 75 percent of the capacity will be supplied to state and central governments, with only 25 percent going to private hospitals," it said.