₹150 PER COVAXIN DOSE WILL NOT BE SUSTAINABLE IN LONG RUN, SAYS BHARAT BIOTECH

NEW DELHI: Bharat Biotech has not sought indemnity from the Centre against any adverse event caused by its coronavirus vaccine Covaxin, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

It also defended its differential pricing and said the “non-competitive rate” at which it provides the vaccine to the governments is unsustainable in the long run and the manufacturing cost has to be offset by pricing the vaccine higher in the private market.

The company also said that the central government has directed it to keep supplies to the private sector under 10%.“As directed by the government of India, less than 10% of our total production of Covaxin to date has been supplied to private hospitals, while most of the remaining quantity was supplied to state and central governments,” the company said in a statement.

In such a scenario, the weighted average price of Covaxin for all supplies is less than ₹ 250 per dose, the company said, adding that in the future, approximately 75% of the vaccine output will be supplied to the central and state governments while the remaining 25% will be supplied to private hospitals.

Explaining the new pricing policy, the company said the existing price of ₹150 per dose at which the vaccine is sold to the central government is non-competitive and unsustainable in the long run. Currently, Covaxin is being sold to state governments at ₹400 per dose and at ₹1,200 per dose to private hospitals and institutions.

HT reached out to the health ministry but didn’t receive a response till the time of press.

COVAXIN IS BEING SOLD TO STATE GOVTS AT ₹400 PER DOSE AND AT ₹1,200 PER DOSE TO PRIVATE HOSPITALS AND INSTITUTIONS