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Article

27 Jan 2015

Author:
Ed Silverman, Wall Street Journal

Pfizer Discount for its Pneumococcal Vaccine is Criticized as ‘Meager’

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File this under ‘just not good enough.’ One week after being slammed over the price that poor countries pay for its pneumococcal vaccine, Pfizer PFE +3.27% announced a 6% reduction. This would bring the cost of its Prevenar 13 vaccine down 20 cents, to $3.10 a dose, which means the entire three-dose treatment to vaccinate a child would cost slightly more than $9. The move was praised by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, an international public-private partnership, which had been paying drug makers up to $21 for three doses of pneumococcal vaccines made by Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline GSK.LN -0.07%. The partnership serves as a vital bridge between manufacturers and philanthropic organizations in negotiating supplies of vaccines for poor and developing countries. Despite the gesture by Pfizer, Doctors Without Borders again criticized the drug maker. Last week, the non-profit advocacy group accused both Pfizer and Glaxo of “overcharging” for vaccines that “already earn them billions of dollars in wealthy countries,” and argued that vaccination really ought to cost about $5 per child. The price cut, consequently, failed to impress the group. “We think the company can do much more than a meager 6% discount,” says Kate Elder, vaccines policy advisor for Doctors Without Borders, in a statement. “…Pfizer claims that is it making the pneumococcal vaccine available to the poorest countries at below cost, but we really don’t know if that’s true.” To back up the assertion, she says Pfizer should open its books.