Covaxin Supplies At Rs 150/Dose ‘Non-Competitive Price, Not Sustainable’: Bharat Biotech Defends Higher Price

Bharat Biotech said as directed by the government, less than 10% of the total production of Covaxin to date has been supplied to private hospitals, while most of the remaining quantity was supplied to the Centre and state and governments.

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Hyderabad: Defending the higher price of Covaxin, Bharat Biotech on Tuesday said the supply price of the vaccine to the Centre at Rs 150 per dose is a “non-competitive price and clearly not sustainable in the long run”.

Bharat Biotech said as directed by the government, less than 10% of the total production of Covaxin to date has been supplied to private hospitals, while most of the remaining quantity was supplied to the Centre and state and governments.

“In such a scenario the weighted average price of COVAXIN® for all supplies realized by Bharat Biotech is less than ₹ 250 / dose. Going forward, ~75% of the capacity will be supplied to State and Central Governments with only 25% going to private hospitals,” said Bharat Biotech in a statement, adding “ hence a higher price in private markets is required to offset part of the costs”.

Stating that unlike most medicines and therapeutics, vaccines are provided free of cost by the Centre to all eligible Indian citizens, Bharat Biotech said “thus, the procurement of vaccines by private hospitals is optional and not mandatory, albeit it gives a choice to citizens who are willing to pay for better convenience”.

“In our view, the question of product pricing is only of extraneous interest to all concerned, especially when the same vaccine is made available free of cost,” the Covaxin maker added.

Bharat Biotech said it has so far invested over Rs 500 crores at risk from its own resources for product development, clinical trials and setting up of manufacturing facilities for Covaxin.

Stating the support from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) was with respect to provision of the SARS CoV2 virus, animal studies, virus characterization, test kits and partial funding for clinical trial sites, Bharat Biotech said it will in return pay royalties to ICMR and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), based on product sales.

Royalties are also payable to Virovax towards the licensure of IMDG agonist molecules. Bharat Biotech is investing in new facilities and repurposing existing ones across several states in India for enhancing the production of COVAXIN®.

The Covaxin maker said it has been extremely diligent in selecting manufacturing facilities and partners, with the required levels of containment, capabilities and expertise.

Asserting low product price realization “dispirits domestic R&D”, Bharat Biotech said product development activities towards the development of vaccines against newer variants is also underway at its facilities.

The Covaxin maker further said that companies such as Bharat Biotech, which are innovators with specialized expertise in product development, and large scale manufacturing, should be allowed to maintain a differential pricing strategy for governments and private hospitals.

“It is distressing to see that a large country like India has a very basic level of innovation in vaccines and pharmaceutical products. It may well be argued that the low-price realization for home-grown innovators constraints innovation and product development in India. In the absence of a dual pricing system, Indian vaccine and pharmaceutical companies risk being reduced to mere contract manufacturers with intellectual property licensed from other nations,” Bharat Biotech added.