Covaxin, Corona vaccine of Bharat Biotech has announced a sharp downward in price for state governments.
They said Covaxin will now cost Rs.400 a dose for State governments, down from Rs.600 for a dose announced earlier after the Centre, in a surprising move, deregulated the vaccine market and allowed manufacturers the freedom to fix the price for 50 per cent of what they produced.
But the company have not changed the fixed price for private hospitals, which remains at Rs.1,200 per dose.
While The company intends to sell Covaxin in the international market, too, at the earlier fixed rate of $15 to $20 a dose (Rs.1,125-1,500).
Notably, Bharat Biotech is one of only two companies whose vaccines got permission in India.
The reduction in Covaxin’s price for States comes a day after the Serum Institute of India (SII) announced a 25 per cent reduction in the price of their Covishield vaccine, from Rs.400 to Rs.300 a dose.
Adar Poonawalla, SII’s Chief Executive Officer, called the reduction in pricing a “philanthropic gesture”.
According to reports, Of the 14,91,43,616 crore COVID-19 vaccinations administered until 8 p.m. on April 29, Covaxin accounted for 1,39,09,069 doses while Covishield accounted for 13,52,34,547 doses.
In a statement announcing the reduction in the pricing of Covaxin, the company said: “Bharat Biotech is deeply concerned with the critical pandemic circumstances that India is facing at this time. Recognising the enormous challenges to the public health care system, we have made Covaxin available to State governments at a price of ₹ 400 per dose…. We wish to be transparent in our approach to pricing which was determined by internally funded project development, several operationally intensive BSL-3 manufacturing facilities and clinical trials.”
