WASHINGTON — Moderna’s CEO on Wednesday defended the company’s decision to specifically increase the price of its COVID-19 vaccine later this year, arguing that an expected drop in demand, changes to its distribution process and the overall benefit of the vaccine justify the price increase.
The resolution received bipartisan condemnation from U. S. senators. He served in the U. S. Department of Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Many criticized the resolution before noting that the federal government had invested only about $2 billion in the progression of Moderna’s vaccine and provided collaboration with the National Institutes of Health.
CEO Stéphane Bancel promised at the hearing that even if the price rises from less than $30 to about $130 depending on the dose, Moderna would expand a formula to provide uninsured or underinsured Americans with the COVID-19 vaccine and boosters for free.
Bancel, however, was unable to answer questions from U. S. lawmakers about how the procedure would work in practice, saying the company was still running on the general parameters and in the details.
Bancel upset several panel members when he declined to say whether Moderna would negotiate the new value with the federal government to reduce the taxpayer charge for COVID-19 vaccines provided through Medicare, Medicaid or the veterans health care system.
Bancel also declined to say whether other people in the U. S. would be able to say. The U. S. would pay less for the vaccine than other countries, whose governments have not invested in its development.
“The price will depend on the charge in the country,” Bancel said. “The charge for health care is another in the country. “
Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy questioned whether Moderna’s resolution to increase the value of its COVID-19 vaccine was similar to the fact that Bancel won a recent functionality review in which the board said it “exceeded the company’s target for sales revenue generated by COVID-19. “vaccine. “. “
Baldwin said the decision to increase the value of the vaccine “appears to have the effect of your assessment of private functionality on your bond and how much you would earn privately by increasing the value of the COVID vaccine. “
Bancel argued that the two are unrelated, saying the value of the vaccine is determined through the burden of the product and how much money can be stored long-term through reduced hospital stays. He noted that the burden of a high two-dose flu vaccine for seniors costs about $90 and the pneumonia vaccine costs about $240.
Baldwin also asked about Moderna’s buyback rate, which totaled $3. 3 billion in 2022 and more than $800 million in 2021.
“You are one of the biggest, if not the largest, shareholders in Moderna,” he told Bancel. “However, despite significant spending on percentage buybacks over the past two years, Moderna’s percentage value has actually declined. If you hadn’t. t spent about $5 billion on buybacks when your inventory was at the highest value ever, do you think you’d be less pressured to increase the value of the COVID vaccine now? »
Bancel rejected any link, saying that “the value of the vaccine is not linked to the functionality of the company. Value is related to the cost of the product, the patient, and the effect on the patient. This is how we set value.
Bancel said Moderna believes the price it charged the U. S. government was a price it charged would be a matter of money. The U. S. government’s U. S. vaccine for the COVID-19 vaccine over the past two years represents a discount, in part because the company sought to pay for the investment it received from the U. S. government. The U. S. government is buying in bulk and in part because the federal government buys wholesale.
Indiana Republican Sen. Mike Braun told Bancel that Moderna’s value “is indicative of a much greater challenge facing physical care” and expressed frustration that some aspects of the fitness industry function as an unregulated public service by embracing festival or transparency.
Braun challenged Bancel for saying that one of the reasons it’s worth going up is the fact that Moderna went from the pandemic model, in which it distributed the vaccine to the U. S. government. It is used in the U. S. through 3 warehouses at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to a normal distribution process. Where the vaccine will have to be delivered to thousands of places across the country.
“A 400 percent worth building is absurd, especially when you’ve been given all this government generosity,” Braun said.
Bancel said Moderna is looking to find the most productive way to set up the new distribution network, noting that the company had never had an advertising product.
Christopher Morten, a clinical associate professor of law at Columbia Law School, said in his testimony at a panel at the time that Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine costs just $3. of U. S. taxpayers.
“Bancel says the cost of those vaccines justifies the value increase proposed by Moderna. But his testimony ignored a key question: Who created this cost?”It is the U. S. government, the American taxpayer that has spent billions. They are the government scientists who worked together with Moderna.
Moderna is not the number one inventor of the vaccine’s three key clinical features, as the government offers the company the rapid series of mRNAs used in the vaccine, according to Morten.
The U. S. government The U. S. Department of Agriculture also designed and conducted the first clinical trials and Moderna with cash and resources to expand its manufacturing, he said.
“To be clear, Moderna scientists and engineers have made many contributions, as have many educational scientists. These Americans and their paintings also deserve to be identified and celebrated,” Morten said. “But Moderna claims the price of the vaccine for itself. “
by Jennifer Shutt, New Jersey Monitor March 22, 2023
WASHINGTON — Moderna’s CEO on Wednesday defended the company’s decision to specifically increase the price of its COVID-19 vaccine later this year, arguing that an expected drop in demand, changes to its distribution process and the overall benefit of the vaccine justify the price increase.
The resolution received bipartisan condemnation from U. S. senators. He served in the U. S. Department of Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Many criticized the resolution before noting that the federal government had invested only about $2 billion in the progression of Moderna’s vaccine and provided collaboration with the National Institutes of Health.
CEO Stéphane Bancel promised at the hearing that even if the price rises from less than $30 to about $130 depending on the dose, Moderna would expand a formula to provide uninsured or underinsured Americans with the COVID-19 vaccine and boosters for free.
Bancel, however, was unable to answer questions from U. S. lawmakers about how the procedure would work in practice, saying the company was still running on the general parameters and in the details.
Bancel upset several panel members when he declined to say whether Moderna would negotiate the new value with the federal government to reduce the taxpayer charge for COVID-19 vaccines provided through Medicare, Medicaid or the veterans health care system.
Bancel also declined to say whether other people in the U. S. would be able to say. The U. S. would pay less for the vaccine than other countries, whose governments have not invested in its development.
“The price will depend on the charge in the country,” Bancel said. “The charge for health care is another in the country. “
Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy questioned whether Moderna’s decision to increase the price of its COVID-19 vaccine was similar to Bancel’s recent functionality review in which the board said. said it “exceeded the company’s target of sales gains generated by the COVID-19 vaccine. “
Baldwin said the decision to increase the value of the vaccine “appears to have the effect of your assessment of private functionality on your bond and how much you would earn privately by increasing the value of the COVID vaccine. “
Bancel argued that the two are unrelated, saying the value of the vaccine is determined through the burden of the product and how much money can be stored long-term through reduced hospital stays. He noted that the burden of a high two-dose flu vaccine for seniors costs about $90 and the pneumonia vaccine costs about $240.
Baldwin also asked about Moderna’s buyback rate, which totaled $3. 3 billion in 2022 and more than $800 million in 2021.
“You are one of the biggest, if not the largest, shareholders in Moderna,” he told Bancel. “However, despite significant spending on percentage buybacks over the past two years, Moderna’s percentage value has actually declined. If you hadn’t. t spent about $5 billion on buybacks when your inventory was at the highest value ever, do you think you’d be less pressured to increase the value of the COVID vaccine now? »
Bancel rejected any link, saying that “the value of the vaccine is not linked to the functionality of the company. Value is related to the cost of the product, the patient, and the effect on the patient. This is how we set value.
Bancel said Moderna believes the price it charged the U. S. government was a price it charged would be a matter of money. The U. S. government’s U. S. vaccine for the COVID-19 vaccine over the past two years represents a discount, in part because the company sought to pay for the investment it received from the U. S. government. The U. S. government is buying in bulk and in part because the federal government buys wholesale.
Indiana Republican Sen. Mike Braun told Bancel that Moderna’s value “is indicative of a much greater challenge facing physical care” and expressed frustration that some aspects of the fitness industry function as an unregulated public service by embracing festival or transparency.
Braun challenged Bancel for saying that one of the reasons it’s worth going up is the fact that Moderna went from the pandemic model, in which it distributed the vaccine to the U. S. government. It is used in the U. S. through 3 warehouses at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to a normal distribution process. Where the vaccine will have to be delivered to thousands of places across the country.
“A 400 percent worth building is absurd, especially when you’ve been given all this government generosity,” Braun said.
Bancel said Moderna is looking to find the most productive way to set up the new distribution network, noting that the company had never had an advertising product.
Christopher Morten, a clinical associate professor of law at Columbia Law School, said in his testimony at a panel at the time that Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine costs just $3. of U. S. taxpayers.
“Bancel says the cost of those vaccines justifies the value increase proposed by Moderna. But his testimony ignored a key question: Who created this cost?”It is the U. S. government, the American taxpayer that has spent billions. They are the government scientists who worked together with Moderna.
Moderna is not the number one inventor of the vaccine’s three key clinical features, as the government offers the company the rapid series of mRNAs used in the vaccine, according to Morten.
The U. S. government The U. S. Department of Agriculture also designed and conducted the first clinical trials and Moderna with cash and resources to expand its manufacturing, he said.
“To be clear, Moderna scientists and engineers have made many contributions, as have many educational scientists. These Americans and their paintings also deserve to be identified and celebrated,” Morten said. “But Moderna claims the price of the vaccine for itself. “
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Jennifer covers the nation’s capital as a senior reporter for the state newsroom. Its policy spaces come with congressional politics, politics and demanding legal situations with a focus on health care, unemployment, housing, and family assistance.
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