Pfizer wants it all because profit matter over patients

QUICK THOUGHT: Pfizer has already made $24 billion from their COVID vaccine, but that’s not enough; they want more, a lot more. They are planning to increase the vaccine price, and they’re working on an oral pill that could bring in as much as an additional $2 billion. While the U.S. Government didn’t pay for development, the German Government did. It is about providing a need at one hell of a profit margin.

I’ve been spending the last couple of days reading comments from readers of the Times and other papers on Pfizer’s $24 billion profit from the Covid vaccine. There are some who don’t care but many feel that Pfizer is really milking the system.

It’s estimated that Pfizer spent $2 billion developing the COVOD vaccine. With projected sales to be in the billions, the ROI is obscene. BioNTech developed the vaccine. They allied with Pfizer to manufacture and distribute the vaccine. The basic mRNA technology was primarily developed by Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman when both worked at the U of Pennsylvania, where higher-ups dismissed Karikó as deadwood unworthy of university support. In 2013 she threw in her lot with BioNTech. And how did Pfizer reward this partnership? After the development, they told BioNTech to take a hike.

The CEO of Pfizer has been richly rewarded as well. He will earn $21 million. Pfizer also has halted shipments of coronavirus vaccines to Israel in outrage over the country failing to transfer payment for the last 2.5 million doses it supplied to the country.

Now Pfizer is reported to be working on an oral pill for COVID and, of course, a booster shot because this cash cow has a lot of milk left. The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) intends to pose to Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer through shareholder proposals at their annual gatherings, plans for future vaccine pricing. ICCR argues that the upcoming measures aim to prevent price gouging, which could damage the industry’s reputation as poorer countries struggle to get their vaccination programs off the ground. Of course, Pfizer is pushing back against the proposals and is urging shareholders to vote them down, according to their proxy statements.

On top of all this J&J asked for help with there vaccine and Pfizer promptly told them to take a long walk.

Yes Pfizer has only marked up their vaccine a couple of dollars and this vaccine probably saved many lives but at what point does this justify greed?

Pfizer does, of course, deserve to make a profit but $24 billion and counting is excessive. Why not use this monet to ship the vaccine to poor countries that can’t afford the product?

Millennials are right, Capitalism is broken.

Originally published at https://worldofdtcmarketing.com on May 5, 2021.