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Pfizer Getting $529 Per Course For Paxlovid Under US Contract; Did Merck Drive A Harder Bargain?

 
• By Cathy Kelly

US government is paying Merck & Co. around $181 more per course of treatment for its oral antiviral for COVID-19, molnupiravir, than it is to Pfizer for its competing drug.

The Costco Purchasing Model At Play? • Source: Alamy

Pfizer Inc.’s supply agreement with the US government for its experimental oral antiviral for COVID-19, Paxlovid, suggests a per course price of $529, which is significantly below the price Merck & Co., Inc. is getting from the US for its investigational oral antiviral for COVID, molnupiravir.

The Pfizer contract was announced by the company and the White House on 19 November. The purchase is contingent on Pfizer receiving regulatory clearance for the drug from the US...

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