The United States Will Pay This Much to Pfizer and BioNTech for its COVID-19 Vaccine

As coronavirus cases keep surging, the U.S. is prepared to pay a steep amount for a vaccine. Nearly $2 billion steep.

The U.S. government will be paying $1.95 billion to Pfizer and BioNTech for their COVID-19 vaccine that is being developed.

The U.S pharma giant and Germany’s BioNTech’s vaccine will innoculate 50 million people if it proves to be safe and effective according to an announcement from both companies this week.

The contract for 100 million doses of the vaccine amounts to a $39 price tag and it is likely to be a two-dose course of treatment.

This is the most that the U.S. has ever agreed to spend on a vaccine. Under the agreement, the government would also have an option to procure an additional 500 million doses.

Pfizer said the price for the additional doses would be negotiated separately if the U.S. decides to order them.

A Pfizer spokeswoman has noted that Pfizer and BioNTech will not receive any money from the government unless their vaccine succeeds in large clinical trials and can be successfully manufactured.

The U.S. department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has said that if the vaccine is successful, it would be at no cost to Americans. Their health insurance may be charged however.

Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla has previously said the company plans to profit on the vaccine and the company hopes to start its pivotal late-stage trial of the vaccine as early as next week, pending regulatory approvals.

Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten said in an interview recently, “We’re already starting to the process of allocating vaccine vials to a variety of different clinical sites in the U.S. and elsewhere.
We’re looking at the map and getting good advice from the CDC. Where do we have the greatest incidence of COVID-19 disease?”

Pfizer and BioNTech have also agreed to supply the United Kingdom with 30 million doses of the vaccine candidate, but did not disclose a price.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and have not been compensated for this article.