Covaxin at Rs 150 per dose to Centre "not sustainable": Bharat Biotech

Bharat Biotech on Tuesday stated that the supply price of COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin to the central government at Rs 150 per dose was not sustainable in the long run.

Why is Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 Vaccine Covaxin more expensive for the private sector?

"Another key point of discussion has been about pricing our vaccines for private sector players which is significantly higher than that given to governments and large procurement agencies," it said. Adding, it stated that "This is purely due to fundamental business reasons, ranging from low procurement volumes, high distribution costs and retail margins among few others as explained above." Also Read | SAD holds ‘dharna’ outside residence of Captain Amarinder Singh in Mohali As directed by the Govt of India, less than 10 percent of our total production of COVAXIN® to date has been supplied to private hospitals, while most of the remaining quantity was supplied to State and Central Governments," it said. Also Read | SAD attempts to gherao CM residence; police resort to water cannon The supply price of Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin to the government of India at Rs 150 / dose, is a non-competitive price and clearly not sustainable in the long run, it asserted. Hence a higher price in private markets is required to offset part of the costs. There are live examples of such pricing policies where the Human Papillomavirus vaccine is priced for GAVI supplies at ~ $ 4.5 / dose (~ ₹ 320) but is also available in the private market at ~ ₹ 3500 / dose. Rotavirus vaccines are supplied to the Govt of India at ~₹ 60/ dose but are also available in the private market at ~ ₹ 1700 / dose. The prices for COVID-19 vaccines internationally have varied between ~ $10 to ~ $37 / dose, (~ ₹ 730 - ~ ₹ 2700/ dose). Click here to follow PTC News on Twitter -PTC News