| WASHINGTON, DC — In response to the news that Moderna plans to accept another $1.5 billion from American taxpayers and then charge the highest price of any of the vaccine makers for its COVID-19 vaccine, David Mitchell, a cancer patient and the founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs, issued the following statement:
“Moderna already admitted American taxpayers financed 100 percent of this vaccine. Now the company has the gall to turn around and charge us the highest price of any vaccine maker. Asking the government to assume all risk for research, development, and production and then showing no restraint in pricing — that is the very definition of profiteering on a pandemic.”
BACKGROUND
- American taxpayers invested nearly $2.5 billion in Moderna — including nearly $1 billion in funding to float the creation of the vaccine and another $1.5 billion to lock in 100 million doses. That’s $25 per dose.
- The NIH says American taxpayers are joint owners in the Moderna mRNA patents.
- Since January, Moderna insiders have pocketed at least $248 million in well-timed share sales, cashing in on the crisis.
- The last major vaccine pricing benchmark is the H1N1 vaccine in 2009, when the U.S. government bought 250 million doses for $8 per dose. Adjusting for inflation, that would be $9.60 today.
- But mRNA vaccines are faster and cheaper to make. AstraZeneca puts the cost to make its mRNA vaccine at $3-4.
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