UNICEF highlights price differences for vaccines
pharmafile | June 2, 2011 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Unicef, developing world, vaccines
A large disparity in the cost of vaccines has been revealed by UNICEF.
The United Nations Children’s Fund charity has revealed for the first time the prices it pays for vaccines, showing it spent $757 million on immunising some of the world’s poorest children in 2010.
Shanelle Hall, director of the supply division at UNICEF, said the charity had decided to publish the prices in an effort to increase transparency.
“Transparency is a core principle in itself, and will support governments and partners in making more informed decisions [and] will also help foster a competitive, diverse supplier base for global public goods,” she said.
But the prices it pays for vaccines has varied, leading some to question why some pharma companies are charging more than others for the same medicine.
For the DTP-HepB-Hib vaccine, the Indian firm Serum Institute charged UNICEF the lowest price at $2.25 a dose, with children needing three doses in all.
This is compared with $2.95 charged by GlaxoSmithKline and $3.20 charged by Crucell.
UNICEF’s data show that this was a trend, with Indian suppliers offering the lowest prices for vaccines, whilst those in the West are generally charging more.
Daniel Berman, an official at Doctors Without Borders, told the Wall Street Journal the price difference was a concern, and accused some companies of charging ‘outrageous’ prices.
Hall said that improved transparency on pricing was coming ‘at a critical time’, especially as vaccines against pneumonia and diarrhoea are being made available.
“The approach will soon be extended to other vaccine market dynamic factors, and other health products that are essential to child survival,” she said, meaning more data on drug prices could be published in the future.
UNICEF said it undertook a consultation with all vaccine suppliers to ensure ‘understanding and acceptance’ of the new policy prior to publishing vaccine prices online.
A full list of prices paid by the charity to the supplies of vaccines are available at UNICEF’s website.
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