Pfizer More Than Doubles Price of Paxlovid

Facts

• Pfizer will more than double the cost of COVID antiviral medication Paxlovid, as the US transitions out of what it classifies as the emergency phase of the pandemic.¹
• Before insurance, the cost will be will be $1,390 for a five-day course of Paxlovid. This is 2.6 times higher than the $530-per-course price paid by the US government as it provided the drug to patients for free up to this point.²
• Pfizer has said that the new list price 'does not necessarily reflect the price a patient will pay' and that the company is working on health insurance arrangements that would provide very low out-of-pocket costs to patients who qualify.¹
• The government previously purchased and distributed Paxlovid to the public for free since the US Food and Drug Administration first authorized the treatment in December 2021. Starting in 2024, Pfizer will sell the drug directly to health insurers.³
• The price change comes as the US transitions from a government-subsidized system from the pandemic to a more traditional commercial pharmaceutical marketplace.¹
• COVID vaccines had a similar increase in price when they went through a similar transition to a commercial market, with prices quadrupling at the end of the process.³

Sources: ¹CNN, ²Local News 8 and ³CNBC.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by The Wall Street Journal. Paxlovid is a valuable medication, and Pfizer deserves to be compensated fairly. The updated list price reflects the drug's important role in helping to reduce COVID hospitalizations and deaths. COVID is still around but thankfully much has changed over the past few years — a transition to a regular healthcare marketplace for this drug is in the best interest of the consumer.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by WBAL. Doubling the cost of Paxlovid is blatantly Big Pharma price gouging. The drug was a breakthrough in the fight against COVID and likely saved many lives, and raising the cost will put a hurdle in the way of many people who will need access to it. Given issues with insured and underinsured populations, this is bad news for many with COVID still circulating in the American population.

Predictions