- Dubois destroys Joshua to retain IBF world heavyweight crown
- Guardiola says critics want Man City wiped 'from face of the Earth'
- Biden says 'Quad' is 'here to stay' despite challenges
- Dubois knocks out Joshua to retain IBF world heavyweight crown
- Vinicius helps 'faster' Madrid overturn stubborn Espanyol
- Zelensky to press US on long-range missile strikes inside Russia
- PSG drop first points in draw at Reims
- Vinicius, Mbappe on target as Madrid crush plucky Espanyol
- Jeeno leads Ko by two at LPGA Queen City Championship
- Bottega Veneta goes for 'E.T.' chic as Madonna pops into D&G
- Messi, Miami frustrated by New York late leveler
- Musk's X platform takes first step toward lifting Brazil ban
- 'Business as usual' for Australia match-winner Carey amid boos
- Israeli jets pound Lebanon after deadly Beirut strike
- Ten Hag bemoans Man Utd's lack of killer instinct in Palace stalemate
- France's Macron appoints new government in shift to right
- Cheika proud of Leicester grit after winning start as boss
- Profligate Man Utd pay price in 0-0 draw at Palace
- Kane, Olise run riot as Bayern thump Bremen
- Diaz fires Liverpool top of Premier League, Man Utd held at Palace
- LIV champion Rahm out of LIV Team semis with severe flu
- Slot surprised by tearful Nunez's moment of magic
- Title rivals Norris, Verstappen on 'cool' front row for Singapore GP
- Biden talks China with 'Quad' leaders in hometown summit
- Juve and Napoli play out goalless draw in early Serie A title tussle
- Alcaraz fears tennis tour grind will 'kill us'
- Carey sparks recovery as Australia thrash England in 2nd ODI
- Leclerc, Sainz lament 'disappointing' Saturday in Singapore
- Bottega Veneta holds investors' aces as Madonna pops into D&G
- Beirut digs for victims at building flattened in Israeli strike
- Verstappen stages protest over 'ridiculous' swearing punishment
- Bayern boss Kompany lauds 'special talent' Olise
- Diaz fires Liverpool top of Premier League, Spurs bounce back
- Heavy fire over Israel-Lebanon border after deadly Beirut strike
- Ramos guides unbeaten Toulouse to Montpellier win despite Hogg scuffle
- Myanmar flood death toll jumps to 384
- Chelsea owners 'happy' with win at West Ham amid rift report
- Kane and Olise run riot as Bayern thump Bremen
- Ramos guides unbeaten Toulouse to Montpellier win
- Norris pips Verstappen to dramatic Singapore pole after Sainz crash
- Carey takes Australia to 270 in 2nd ODI against England after collapse
- Two Hezbollah leaders killed in Israel's Beirut strike
- Hungary Danube waters reach decade high after Storm Boris
- Bagnaia cuts Martin's MotoGP lead with Emilia-Romagna sprint win
- Jackson double fires Chelsea to victory at woeful West Ham
- Fiji beat Japan to lift Pacific Nations Cup
- Kasatkina to face Haddad Maia in Korea Open final
- S.Africa snowfall closes roads, strands motorists overnight
- Lawyers of women alleging Al-Fayed sex abuse receive over 150 new enquiries
- President Museveni's son backs Ugandan strongman for 7th term
Moderna rebuked over plan to hike Covid vaccine to $130
Moderna's chief executive on Wednesday defended the US company's plan to quadruple the price of its lifesaving Covid vaccine to as much as $130 per dose as soon as government stockpiles run out.
Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders lashed out at the price hike, denouncing the "unprecedented level of corporate greed" in the pharmaceutical industry. "And that is certainly true with Moderna," Sanders said.
Moderna has so far charged between about $15 and $26 for doses of its vaccine, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The US government subsidized $1.7 billion of Moderna's research at the start of the pandemic and then purchased $10 billion worth of vaccine, Sanders said at a Senate hearing where the company's CEO Stephane Bancel was testifying.
Sanders said Moderna was "thanking the taxpayers of the United States" by more than quadrupling the vaccine's price "at a time when it costs less than $3 to manufacture."
Sanders noted several times at the hearing that Moderna conducted buybacks of its own stock and paid its own executives at its Cambridge, Massachusetts, headquarters handsomely.
Bancel defended Moderna, saying the distribution system will change completely when the US government lifts a state of health emergency, perhaps as soon as May.
Up until now, Moderna had only one customer, distributed its vaccine to only a few warehouses and did not have to pay for the cost of expired doses.
By switching to a more traditional marketing approach, "we're going to have 10,000 customers" and have to "manage to deliver to 60,000 pharmacies, doctors' offices and hospitals," he added.
Currently distributed in multidose vials, the vaccine will be sold mostly in single-dose vials or directly in prefilled syringes. And Moderna will have to take care of the unsold doses.
The company expects a "90 percent reduction in demand," Bancel said. "We are losing economies of scale. We must assume the wastage risk and cost that the US government used to assume."
Moderna also pledged to set up a program so that the uninsured or underinsured would not have to pay anything.
When pressed by Sanders about the possibility of the company lowering its price for government-run health insurance programs, Bancel said discussions were underway with all customers.
P.Martin--AMWN