Pfizer and China in Deadlock Over High Paxlovid Price Amid COVID Surge

As China struggles with a massive surge in cases following the end of its COVID Zero policy, the nation’s officials are at odds with Pfizer over the cost of its COVID-19 pill Paxlovid. Critics of big pharma argue that the middle of an outbreak is not the time to be playing hardball, but representatives contend that the nation shouldn’t pay less than significantly poorer countries.

According to Bruce Einhorn, “The pricing deadlock between officials and the drug companies raises questions about whether China’s state medical insurance — the sole health coverage for the majority of the population — will continue to reimburse the use of approved Covid medicines beyond the end of March.”

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(Source: Bloomberg, January 16^th, 2023)