UNICEF discloses vaccine prices for first time - Report
May 29, 2011 11:30 pm
Trenton, May 29 (AP): UNICEF is for the first time publicising what drugmakers charge it for vaccines, as the world’s biggest buyer of lifesaving immunisations aims to spark price competition in the face of rising costs.
UNICEF posted on its website the actual prices that it has paid individual drugmakers for 16 vaccines purchased over the last decade. It’s a move that a few Western pharmaceutical companies don’t support.
Novartis AG and Merck & Co, which only sells one of its many children’s vaccines to UNICEF, both declined to have their prices published.
UNICEF said it will continue to disclose pricing of future vaccine deals, with the hope that the transparency will push drugmakers to cut prices and thus allow the organization to vaccinate more children and save more lives.
“Transparency will also help foster a competitive, diverse supplier base,” said Shanelle Hall, director of UNICEF’s supply division.
