US set to pay nearly $2B for Pfizer's Covid-19 treatment Paxlovid in 2023
The US government is teeing up more Pfizer Covid-19 antiviral purchases for next year – to the tune of $2 billion.
Pfizer’s new agreement with the feds adds 3.7 million treatment courses of Paxlovid to the government’s tally. To date, 20 million courses of treatment have already been contracted and delivered, with the newest batch set for delivery early next year.
The Department of Defense contract lands just under $2 billion for the 3.7 million courses. That’s in line with Pfizer’s original deal with the US government for around $10.6 billion for the first 20 million, which netted out to about $530 per treatment course.
Paxlovid, which is still under emergency use authorization, has a PDUFA date with the FDA in February. But even as an EUA drug, Paxlovid had accounted for a big piece of Pfizer’s business this year. In its most recent quarterly report, the New York-based pharma reaffirmed the antiviral’s $22 billion guidance for the year.
The purchase comes as Pfizer invests millions in its manufacturing facility in Michigan to boost the production of Paxlovid’s active ingredient.
Meanwhile, the NIH is also planning to run a Paxlovid trial in the first study on the effects on long-Covid patients, beginning January.
