The COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread effects across the world, leading not only to economic challenges but also to advancements in medicine and pharmaceutical development. One particular area that has been influenced by this was vaccine development. Many companies successfully produced and distributed vaccines across the world, and the process continues, as more vaccines enter the market and the need for them across the world, especially in countries beyond the United States remains.
Currently, there are several vaccines out on the market. Only three vaccines were approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in the U.S., which were manufactured by Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson, while other countries, like India, have been relying on Cansino and other Chinese vaccines. The Russian vaccine, Sputnik lacks approval in the U.S. (1) Their availability depends on which ones the countries have purchased or manufactured and which have been approved in different countries
According to Pharmaceutical Technology at the time of this writing, there have been 6,411,663,715 vaccines administered across the world with 2,719,826,087 fully vaccinated people, meaning that 46.3% of the world population is fully vaccinated. 217 countries have a vaccination program, 35.8% of the global population are fully vaccinated with the number growing. 6.44 billion doses have been administered globally, and 22.25 million are now administered each day. (2) In the U.S., over 401,819,240 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, 65.3% of the population have been fully vaccinated according to the latest data from CDC. (1, 3) While these numbers are encouraging from a public health perspective, it also means that around 65% of the world’s population have not yet been fully vaccinated and still require the vaccines. Developed countries have, generally, fared better and have had better access to vaccines and only 2.4% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose. (2, 4)
However, do bio pharmaceutical companies really make money from these vaccines? The answer is YES. For example, following EUA approval, the United States federal government agreed to pay Pfizer/BioNTech $1.95 billion upon the receipt of the first 100 million doses and an additional 50 million doses. The U.S. government also has the option to acquire up to an additional 400 million doses. Meanwhile, Pfizer/BioNTech also announced an agreement in last November with the European Commission for 200 million doses of the vaccine to be distributed to the European Union's 27 member countries, with the option to request an additional 100 million doses. (5)
Moderna's mRNA-1273 vaccine is the second one approved for emergency use by the FDA. The company has reached an agreement with the U.S. for 300 million doses, with the option to purchase an additional 200 million doses. The price is $30 for the required two shots in the U.S. and $36 in the E.U., respectively. (6)
In addition, the company also reached agreements with the European Union (310 million doses with the option to purchase an additional 150 million doses in 2022), Canada (44 million doses), the United Kingdom (17 million doses), Switzerland (13.5 million doses), Japan (50 million doses), the Republic of Korea (40 million doses), Colombia (10 million doses), Israel (6 million doses) and Taiwan, China (5 million doses). (7)
Based on Moderna’s report, the company expected $18.4 billion in anticipated product sales related to advanced purchased agreements for its vaccine. The company is aiming to build supply up to 1 billion doses for 2021, and 1.4 billion doses for 2022. Moderna has established 8 commercial subsidiaries in 2020 in North America and Europe and plans to expand in 2021 to Japan, South Korea, and Australia. (8)
Johnson&Johnson's vaccine is the third one approved for EUA by the FDA in Feb. 2021. (9) It was reported that the Janssen vaccine was unlike the other two available vaccines, which require...
(All Rights Reserved)