Oxford Vaccine from Serum, India: Govt’s cost not over $5 a shot

Bangladeshi will get the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from Serum Institute of India at the price the Indian government will pay for it, say two top officials of the health ministry and Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited.

Meanwhile, Indian Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said the union government has not banned export of any Covid vaccines, including Oxford-AstraZeneca and Covaxin, approved by the drug regulator for restricted emergency use.

In reply to a query at a press briefing in New Delhi yesterday, Bhushan said, “The union government has not banned the export of any of the Covid-19 vaccines and this should be absolutely clear.

“… Therefore, our request to our media friends would be that we should be on guard when such misinformation is sought to be spread.”

Bangladesh has purchased three crore shots of Oxford vaccine from Serum for $4 per shot, according to the tripartite agreement signed between the government, Serum and Beximco on November 5 last year.

However, each shot will cost the government $5 as it has to pay Beximco, the local agent of Serum, 80 cents in service charge and another 20 cents for transporting the vaccine shots to the government vaccination centres.

Talking to the Press Trust of India yesterday, Serum’s Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla said, “We want the vaccine to be affordable and accessible to all. The government of India will receive it at a far more affordable price of $3-4, since they will be buying in a larger volume.”

He, however, said the vaccine would be sold at double that price in the private market once such sales are allowed.

Poonawalla’s statement apparently dispelled worries in Bangladesh over paying a much higher price for the vaccine.

Contacted, Nazmul Hassan Papon, managing director of Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited, said it would be a violation of the agreement if Serum, the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world, charges Bangladesh more than India for the vaccine.

“It is an international agreement. Any deviation from the agreement will be a violation of it. We believe Serum Institute will not do that,” he said.

Referring to the deal, Papon pointed out that if Serum charges India less than $4 per shot, it will also be applicable to Bangladesh. In that case, Bangladesh will be at liberty to buy more shots from Serum with the surplus money or get a refund.

On the other hand, if Serum charges India more than $4 for a vaccine shot, it would not be applicable to Bangladesh.

Health Secretary Abdul Mannan echoed Papon.

“As per the agreement, we will not pay more than the Indian government pays for the vaccine,” Mannan told The Daily Star.

He also mentioned that the government yesterday made an advance payment to Serum for the vaccine.

Asked, Prof Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam, director general of the Directorate General of Health Services, said the government paid Serum Tk 509.70 crore (around $59 million) in advance for the vaccine shots.

As per the agreement, three crore doses will arrive in Bangladesh in six instalments — 50 lakh shots a month. The first shipment is expected to arrive in mid-February.

In a tweet yesterday, Poonawalla clarified that export of vaccines to all countries is permitted.

“I would like to clarify two matters; as there is confusion in the public domain, exports of vaccines are permitted to all countries and a joint public statement clearing up any recent miscommunication with regard to Bharat Biotech will be made,” he wrote.

Later in a joint statement, Serum and Bharat Biotech pledged “a smooth rollout of Covid-19 vaccines to India and the world”.

The two firms said the more important task in front of them is saving lives and livelihoods of populations in India and the world.

“Vaccines are a global public health good and they have the power to save lives and accelerate the return to economic normalcy at the earliest,” the statement read.

BRIEFING

Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited started negotiating with Serum for getting the much-sought-after Oxford vaccine four to five months ago, according to Papon.

“We found that only 10 crore shots were up for grab at Serum’s plant,” he said at a press briefing in the capital on Monday.

“As a private company, we booked 5-10 lakh doses for $8 per shot. Serum offered us to be its local agent in Bangladesh and we accepted it.”

He said they later asked the Indian firm whether it could provide the vaccine to Bangladesh in a large volume.

“Initially, we demanded 10 crore doses. Later, we were able to convince Serum to provide three crore doses.”

He further said that when the issue of pricing of the vaccine came up, they told Serum to directly negotiate with the Bangladesh government.

The Indian firm asked the Bangladesh government to take “the research risk”, which the government refused, mentioned Papon.

Serum also said it would keep seven crore doses for the Indian government. “We then asked them [Serum] what price the Indian government would pay for it. They said they asked for $5 per dose and the Indian government was willing to pay $3,” he said.

“Bangladesh finally agreed to set the price at $4 per dose on condition that if the Indian government pays more for the vaccine shots, Serum won’t be able to charge us more. But if India purchases the vaccine at a lower price, Serum will also reduce the price accordingly for us.”

About Beximco’s commission, Papon said the firm will provide the vaccine to the government for $5 per dose, which includes standard charges of 80 cents and also service charge of 20 cents for transporting the shots to vaccination centres through its cold-chain mechanism.

Vaccine is not like other medicines such as capsules or syrup. It is temperature-sensitive, he added.

Daily Star