(NewsNation) — Pfizer plans to charge nearly $1,400 for the COVID-19 treatment drug Paxlovid when it enters the commercial market, more than double what the federal government currently pays for the drug.
Pfizer confirmed the drug price to multiple media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the upcoming list price of $1,390 for a full five-day course. The government currently pays $529 for the drug.
However, patients with medical insurance will likely not pay that much.
People on Medicare and Medicaid will continue to receive it for free through 2024, as will the uninsured, Pfizer said in a news release last week. The company said it will also work to offer discounts to keep prices low through at least 2028.
“As always, Pfizer’s goal is to ensure broad and equitable access to our medicines. We are working diligently with payers to achieve the best possible formulary placement for PAXLOVID, resulting in low (out of pocket) costs for patients,” a company spokesperson told CNBC in a statement.
The federal government has been distributing Paxlovid for free since December 2021. But as the United States moves farther away from the pandemic that began in March 2020, drug companies have begun placing vaccines and treatments on the traditional commercial health care market.
Pfizer on Friday revised downward its revenue estimate for Paxlovid by $7 billion, mainly because of the return of nearly 8 million doses from the federal government.
