March 22 (UPI) — Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel defended the drugmaker Wednesday afternoon, after a Senate panel asked him about the drugmaker’s plan to quadruple the burden of its COVID-19 vaccine.
“For people, we want to do more than we think is necessary. We’re going to have to pay for it,” Bancel told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Wednesday.
In January, Sanders sent a letter to Bancel urging him to oppose the price increase, saying that “the goal of recent taxpayer investment in Moderna is to protect the health and lives of Americans, not to turn a handful of corporate executives and investors into billionaires. “
Also last month, Moderna announced a new patient assistance program to provide loose vaccines to all Americans, even after the U. S. government announced a new patient assistance program to provide loose vaccines to all Americans, even after the U. S. government announced a new patient assistance program. The U. S. government will officially end its public fitness emergency in May.
“As the public fitness emergency ends, the U. S. government will be able to do so. The U. S. government will no longer supply vaccines for free. Moderna remains committed to making sure other people in the U. S. are able to do so. “The U. S. receives our COVID-19 vaccines, regardless of their ability to pay,” the drugmaker said. the company said in a statement.
Prior to Bancel’s appearance, Sanders’ workplace claimed that the executive “became a billionaire during the pandemic after American taxpayers gave his company billions of dollars to research, expand and distribute his COVID-19 vaccine. “
“I don’t know how much cash is the right amount of cash,” Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said addressing committee members.
“But the concept that corporate greed has just been invented in America is absurd. It’s been around since the beginning of loose business: Americans invest in the hope that, if successful, they’ll do well financially. “
In recent interviews, Moderna President Stephen Hoge dismissed the complaint about the closing price increase, noting that moving a government-funded product into the advertising market is a risky and unprecedented business proposition for the company.
“This has literally never happened before. And so what we’re looking to do, as one of many brands in the space, is a value that we think reflects the cost of the vaccine. . . but it also reflects the complexity of moving from this pandemic market to an ad market,” Hoge told Yahoo News.
Pfizer has also indicated plans to sell its vaccine for up to $130 according to the dose on the open market.