BBC News, 6 June 2011
Several major drugs companies have announced big cuts to the amounts they charge for their vaccines in the developing world.
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| The vaccines will be sold at a price that covers the drugmakers' costs |
GSK, Merck, Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi-Aventis have agreed to cut prices through the international vaccine alliance Gavi.
GSK said it would cut the price of its vaccine for rotavirus by 67% to $2.50 (£1.50) a dose in poor countries.
Rotavirus-related diarrhoea kills more than 500,000 children a year.
The vaccine will be subsidised by higher prices being charged in richer countries.
The rotavirus vaccine, for example, would cost about $50 in the US.
"What we need is a return to invest in the next generation of new vaccines and drugs and that has to come from the profits of the medicines or the vaccines," Andrew Witty, chief executive of GSK told the BBC.
"But it's obvious that if you're in Kenya or a slum in Malawi or somewhere like that there is no capacity for those people to contribute to it, so they have to be helped out by the contribution from the middle and the richer (countries)."
Gavi is an organisation that helps to fund mass vaccination programmes in developing countries.
It is committed to funding the introduction of rotavirus vaccinations in 40% of the poorest countries by 2015, but it faced a $3.7bn funding shortfall and so has been appealing for price cuts and donations.
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1 comments:
thanks....
it is very informative about different types of vaccine used for different dieases and about the prices.
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