Stephan Bancel, Moderna CEO, "Sad that Moderna vaccines are not sufficiently supplied to people in poor countries"
Moderna vaccine prepared for vaccination. Unrelated to specific expressions in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim So-young] Moderna, a U.S. pharmaceutical company producing COVID-19 vaccines, is facing controversy after foreign media reported that it has been neglecting vaccine supply to low-income countries while selling even those vaccines at high prices.
On the 9th (local time), The New York Times (NYT) cited Airfinity, a data company tracking global COVID-19 vaccine shipments, to make this claim.
NYT pointed out that Johnson & Johnson exported 25 million doses and Pfizer 8.4 million doses to countries classified as low-income by the World Bank, whereas Moderna sent only 900,000 doses. Notably, among the 23 countries with publicly disclosed individual purchase contracts with Moderna, none were low-income countries.
Additionally, although Moderna agreed to supply up to 34 million doses of vaccines this year to COVAX, the vaccine procurement project led by the World Health Organization (WHO), none have been directly sent by Moderna except those donated by the U.S. government.
Furthermore, NYT claimed that Moderna supplied vaccines at cheaper prices to wealthy countries. The price per dose paid by the U.S. was $15 to $16.50, and the European Union paid $22.6 to $25.5, but Botswana, Thailand, and Colombia paid $27 to $30. Moreover, Colombia received vaccines scheduled for early June only in August, none of the shipments to Botswana starting in August have arrived yet, and Thailand is expected to receive vaccines only next year.
On the 29th of last month (local time), medical staff and protesters in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, were heading to the home of Moderna CEO St?phane Bancel carrying a model pile of human bones symbolizing COVID-19 victims. [Image source=Yonhap News]
NYT especially emphasized disappointment that despite Moderna receiving a huge amount of $1.3 billion (about 1.5 trillion KRW) from the federal government and support from scientists affiliated with the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) during vaccine research and clinical trials last year, it has ignored the government's global vaccine supply efforts. Moderna, which recorded $60 million (about 71.7 billion KRW) in sales in 2019, is expected to generate $14 billion (about 16.7 trillion KRW) in revenue from COVID-19 vaccines.
Tom Frieden, former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), criticized to NYT, "They (Moderna) are acting as if they have no responsibility other than maximizing investment returns."
Following criticism from various sectors, Moderna announced plans to increase vaccine production to supply 1 billion doses to low-income countries next year and to establish a vaccine factory in Africa. Moderna CEO St?phane Bancel expressed regret in an interview with NYT, saying, "I am saddened that Moderna vaccines have not been supplied much to people in poor countries," but added that the situation is beyond the company's control.
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