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In congressional testimony Wednesday, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel unabashedly defended the company's plans to raise the US list price of its COVID-19 vaccines by more than 400 percent—despite creating the vaccine in partnership with the National Institutes of Health, receiving $1.7 billion in federal grant money for clinical development, and making roughly $36 billion from worldwide sales.
Bancel appeared this morning before the Senate's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee, chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has long railed at the pharmaceutical price gouging in the US and pushed for policy reforms. After thanking Bancel for agreeing to testify, Sanders didn't pull any punches. He accused Moderna of "profiteering" and sharing in the "unprecedented level of corporate greed" seen in the pharmaceutical industry generally.
[...]
Early doses were priced between $15 to $16, while the government paid a little over $26 for the updated booster shots. When federal supplies run out later this year and the vaccines move to the commercial market, Moderna will set the list price of its vaccine at $130."This vaccine would not exist without NIH's partnership and expertise, and the substantial investment of the taxpayers of this country," Sanders summarized. "And here is the thank you that the taxpayers of this country received from Moderna for that huge investment: They are thanking the taxpayers of the United States by proposing to quadruple the price of the COVID vaccine."
[...] With no ground gained, Sanders turned to one final plea in the hearing:
"The United States—the people in our country—pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs in general... will you at least tell us today that the price you are charging for the vaccine will be lower than what other countries around the world are paying? Or are, once again, we going to pay the highest prices?"
Bancel started to respond by noting that health care costs are different in each country before Sanders interrupted and directed him to provide a straight answer, to which Bancel replied: "I cannot say the price will be lower than other countries."
Related:
Moderna CEO Says Private Investors Funded COVID Vaccine—Not Billions From Gov't
"Pure and Deadly Greed": Lawmakers Slam Pfizer's 400% Price Hike on COVID Shots
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Saturday March 25, @06:57PM (2 children)
The companies that boosted the price of lifesaving drugs by 300% or more made a nice big pile of cash from that decision, and didn't suffer anything resembling a negative consequence. So why would they possibly not want to do that again?
There's no sense in trying to appeal to a company's sense of humanity, because it doesn't have one. It doesn't have one by its very design, because the very structure of a corporation incentivizes everybody with the power to make real decisions to be completely psychotic.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 25, @07:26PM
The invisible hand is supposed to solve all this. Let's all pray to the invisible hand with its invisible thumb on the scales of justice corrupting the institutions of government. All hail the capital owners.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by krishnoid on Saturday March 25, @07:40PM
Sociopathic, but yes.