Reuters:
The U.S. will pay Pfizer Inc. $5.3 billion for an order of 10 million courses of its experimental Covid-19 pill beginning later this year.
The purchase is contingent on U.S. clearance of the Covid oral antiviral, which Pfizer has applied for, according to a statement from the company Thursday. Bloomberg News reported the order earlier, citing people familiar with the situation, without the financial details.
That is $530 per treatment!
According to google, “the average cost for 20 Tablet(s), 3mg each of generic ivermectin is $95.99. You can also buy ivermectin as low as $36.83 with certain discounts.
Pfizer has become one of the companies most involved in the response to the pandemic, with its Covid pill and messenger RNA vaccine developed with Germany’s BioNTech SE. The U.S. said Wednesday that it would offer funds to companies including Pfizer to expand mRNA vaccine production.
Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) has signed a $5.29 billion deal with the U.S. government to deliver 10 million courses of its COVID-19 oral antiviral drug starting this year, the drugmaker said on Thursday.
The oral drug could be a promising new weapon in the fight against the pandemic, as it can be taken as an early at-home treatment to help prevent COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.
Pfizer on Tuesday filed for U.S. authorization of the drug, Paxlovid, and said it expects to manufacture 180,000 treatment courses by the end of next month and at least 50 million courses by the end of 2022.
“This promising treatment could help accelerate our path out of this pandemic by offering another life-saving tool for people who get sick with COVID-19,” said Xavier Becerra, secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
The company earlier this month said the drug cut by 89% the chance of hospitalization or death for adults at risk of severe disease. read more
The trial’s results suggest that Pfizer’s drug surpasses Merck & Co Inc’s (MRK.N) pill, molnupiravir, which was shown last month to halve the chance of dying or being hospitalized for COVID-19 patients at high risk of serious illness.
