Pfizer and Moderna hiked their COVID-19 vaccine prices in the EU after AstraZeneca lost popularity there, report says
- Pfizer and Moderna upped the prices of their vaccines in new EU contracts, per the Financial Times.
- A single Pfizer will now be worth $23 in Europe, while a Moderna shot will be $30, the report said.
- The new contracts come as experts mull booster shots to combat the fast-spreading Delta variant.
Pfizer and Moderna raised the prices on their coronavirus shots in their latest contract negotiations with the European Union, the Financial Times reported.
One official close to the negotiations told the FT that Pfizer and Moderna had used the "usual pharma rhetoric" to increase the price. The companies essentially said that "vaccines work so they increased the 'value,'" the source said.
According to portions of contracts seen by the FT, Pfizer will now charge 19.50 euros ($23) a shot - up from the previous price of 15.50 euros ($18.40).
Moderna, meanwhile, will now charge 25.50 euros ($30.30) per shot, up from 19 euros ($22.60), people familiar with the matter told the FT. Moderna's final price was actually lower than previously agreed since the EU decided to up its order, the FT reported. The original amount that was agreed upon was 28.50 euros ($33.90) per shot, an official close to the negotiations told the FT.
Neither Pfizer nor Moderna immediately responded to Insider's request for comment on the new EU vaccine contracts.
The new contracts came as experts mull booster shots to combat the fast-spreading Delta coronavirus variant, and the EU has faced issues with the cheaper vaccines made by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.
Both vaccines have been connected to potentially fatal - but extremely rare - blood clots which have made them unpopular in Europe, and there have also been supply issues with both vaccines in Europe.
Meanwhile, vaccine trial data has shown that Pfizer and Moderna's vaccines - which both use mRNA technology - are more effective than the AstraZeneca and J&J vaccines.