EU faces higher prices for Moderna and Pfizer vaccines 

According to a recent report, the European Union will soon face higher prices for both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, as both US drugmakers have made changes their supply contracts. 

The EU’s new contracts have been negotiated after new clinical studies into the effectiveness of the vaccines. They include new terms to supply 2.1 billion jabs between now and 2023.

The new clinical studies show that mRNA technology, which was developed by the two companies, offers higher protection against COVID-19 than other types of shots, such as those manufactured by Oxford/AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. 

Because of these changes to the EU’s contract with the companies, the price of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will be increasing to €19.50, which is significantly higher than the previous price of €15.50. 

The Moderna shot has also increased in price. In the first deal, it was set at €19. Now, it’s been increased as part of the new agreement to €21.50. However, this is still lower than the original cost of €24 per dose, before the order size had been increased. 

Over the next year, both of the pharmaceutical giants are predicted to see a large increase in revenue. As countries increase their orders and begin to consider booster shots for the winter, the company’s are expecting to see vaccine revenue rise. 

The latest projects suggest that, as the two companies dominate the vaccine portfolios of many high-income countries, the current prediction is that Pfizer’s vaccine revenues will hit €47bn while Moderna’s will reach €25bn.

EU contracts with the US drugmakers were signed amid ongoing criticism over the slow vaccine rollout in the EU, which was partly driven by delays in the delivery of the AstraZeneca jab and investigations over blood clots linked to the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Going forward, EU officials have said that the European Commission has agreed to pay a higher price to secure supplies of the mRNA vaccines.