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The new price for the Pfizer shot was 19.50 euros ($23.15) against 15.50 euros previously, Reuters said, citing portions of the contracts seen.

The price of a Moderna vaccine was $25.50 a dose, the contracts show, up from about 19 euros in the first procurement deal but lower than the previously agreed $28.50 because the order had grown, the report said, citing one official close to the matter.

Photo: Getty Images

Pfizer declined to comment on the contract with the European Commission, citing confidentiality. "Beyond the redacted contract(s) published by the EC, the content remains confidential and so we won't be commenting," the company said.

Pfizer last week raised its guidance for annual vaccine revenue by nearly a third to $33.5bn, after sales of the shot helped almost double sales in the second quarter.

Chief executive Albert Bourla said prices for higher-income countries were “comparable”, with middle-income countries charged about half and lower-income countries paying cost.

Pfizer, which shares profits with its German partner BioNTech, expects to raise prices after the pandemic is over, according to Financial Times.

The revenue gap between mRNA vaccines, whose genetic instructions prompt cells to make viral proteins that prime the immune system, and more traditional rivals that contain either viral proteins or an inactivated virus, is set to widen further next year according to forecasts compiled for the FT by Airfinity.

Chart: Airfinity/ via Financial Times

The life sciences consultancy predicts sales of Pfizer’s shot will hit $56bn with Moderna’s reaching $30bn, as they dominate the high-income markets.

Sales of the jab made by Oxford/AstraZeneca, which is priced at cost and is the largest vaccine supplied to low-income countries, are forecast to rise to $15bn next year.

The EU contracts were struck at a complex moment in the bloc’s vaccine rollout, as it faced supply problems from AstraZeneca and J&J as health authorities probed a suspected link between their shots and rare blood clots.

Brussels was also battling criticism from member states led by Austria that accused the European Commission of “unfair” vaccine distribution, arguing that the EU system had left some countries short on supply.

Moderna’s Covid vaccine is its first commercially approved product. Photo: Getty Images

Moderna, whose Covid vaccine is its first commercially approved product, did not respond to a request for comment on the details of its EU pricing, but pointed to previous disclosures that smaller-volume agreements would be executed at higher prices. It reiterated that it aimed to provide effective and affordable vaccines to “all populations”.

The FT reported last year that Moderna had initially asked buyers including the EU for a price of at least high double-digit dollars per course.

The commission said Brussels has reserved the right for an additional 1.8bn doses of Pfizer’s vaccine “to be ready if booster shots are necessary and should we need additional vaccines in the context of variants”. Pfizer declined to comment on pricing, citing confidentiality.

The European Commission said on Tuesday that the EU is on course to hit a target of fully vaccinating at least 70% of the adult population by the end of the summer.

In May, the EU said it expects to have received more than a billion doses of vaccines by the end of September from four drugmakers.

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