China's Sinopharm chief rules out high price for coronavirus vaccine

Beijing

A POTENTIAL coronavirus vaccine being developed by a unit of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) could cost no more than 1,000 yuan (S$197) for two shots, state media on Tuesday quoted chairman Liu Jingzhen as saying.

Sinopharm said its experimental vaccine could be ready for public use by the end of this year. It has entered a late-stage human test in the United Arab Emirates to gather proof of efficacy for final regulatory approvals.

"It will not be priced very high. It is expected to cost a few hundred yuan for a shot, and for two shots it should be less than 1,000 yuan," Mr Liu told the Guangming Daily newspaper.

Governments and drugmakers around the world are in a frenetic race to develop a Covid-19 vaccine. More than 200 candidates are in development, including more than 20 in human clinical trials.

Moderna said earlier this month that smaller volumes of its experimental vaccine have been priced at US$32 to US$37 per dose.

Last month, the US government struck a deal for an experimental vaccine being developed by Pfizer and partner BioNTech SE that secures enough to inoculate 50 million Americans for about US$40 a person.

Mr Liu did not say if China's state-backed nationwide insurance programme would cover some of the vaccine costs for consumers, or whether it could be included in the country's free vaccination scheme.

China National Biotec Group, a Sinopharm unit, has moved two vaccine strains using the same method into human trials. Its plants in Wuhan and Beijing combined could make over two million doses of the drug annually. REUTERS