Rs 150 per dose is not sustainable in long run: Bharat Biotech on Centre's Covaxin price

Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Bharat Biotech on Tuesday said the current supply price of its Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin to the Centre is not sustainable in the long run.

Rs 150 per dose is not sustainable in long run: Bharat Biotech on Centre's Covaxin priceCovaxin is being supplied to the Centre at a price of Rs 150 per dose.

The low supply price for the Centre is resulting in a higher pricing structure for the private sector, the company said. "The supply price of Covaxin to the government of India at Rs 150 / dose, is a non-competitive price and clearly not sustainable in the long run. Hence a higher price in private markets is required to offset part of the costs," Bharat Biotech said in a statement.

Various factors such as low procurement volumes, high distribution costs and other business reasons are responsible for the current price of Covaxin, the company said while justifying the higher price of its vaccine when compared to other Covid-19 vaccines available for the private sector in India.

Bharat Biotech 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, it added.

At the moment three Covid-19 vaccines have been granted emergency use approval in India. They are Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, Serum Institute of India's Covishield and Russia's Sputnik V.