Moderna is considering pricing its COVID-19 vaccine as high as $130 per dose in the United States for commercial distribution, according to a report first published by The Wall Street Journal.
"I would think this type of pricing is consistent with the value," Chief Executive Officer Stephane Bancel told the Journal, adding that the company is currently in discussions with hospitals, pharmacies, and pharmacies to arrange distribution ahead of a potential booster shot campaign later this year.
Last October, rival company Pfizer similarly announced its intention to increase the price of its COVID vaccine to around $110 to $130 per dose after the current purchase program by the United States government expires.
In an interview with The Daily Mail, Bancel added that the price had previously been subsidized by the U.S. government.
"It's [the price] going up a little bit because the previous price was massively discounted... we got help from the US Government," he said. "In the US it's $26 now. That was the discounted price, it's going to go up. Pfizer said they’re going to price it between $110 and $130. We’d want to be the same ballpark as that."
Confirmation of Moderna's pricing intentions comes as the company posts record-high profits as a result of their vaccines. On Monday, the company announced that they sold more than $18 billion in COVID-19 vaccines last year alone.
"We enter 2023 in a great position, with significant momentum across our clinical pipeline…and a strong balance sheet of over $18bn of cash and cash equivalents," Bancel said. "With encouraging clinical data across the entire Moderna platform, we are accelerating our investments to deliver the greatest possible impact to people through mRNA medicines."
