Covaxin manufacturer Bharat Biotech on Tuesday explained why the prices for its vaccine were higher for private sector. It said that higher prices for private sector players are "purely due to fundamental business reasons, ranging from low procurement volumes, high distribution costs and retail margins". Bharat Biotech, which has developed Covaxin in collaboration with ICMR's National Institute of Virology, has been giving Covid vaccine to the Centre at ₹150 per dose. Addressing this price difference, Bharat Biotech said that the supply price of Coxain to the government of India at ₹150 per dose, "is a non-competitive price and clearly not sustainable in the long run". "Hence a higher price in private markets is required to offset part of the costs," it said.

Source: Mint June 15, 2021 09:26 UTC