Pfizer expects to raise COVID vaccine price to $110-$130 per dose

By Michael Erman

NEW YORK, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc PFE.N expects to raise the price of its COVID-19 vaccine to about $110 to $130 per dose after the United States government's current purchase program expires, Pfizer executive Angela Lukin said on a call with analysts on Thursday.

Lukin said she expects the vaccine will be made available at no cost to people who have private insurance or government paid insurance.

The U.S. government currently provides the vaccine for free to all but pays about $30 per dose to Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE 22UAy.DE. In 2023, the market is expected to move to private insurance after the U.S. public health emergency expires.

It is not yet clear what kind of access people without health insurance will have to the vaccine.

Pfizer said it expects the COVID-19 market to be about the size of the flu shot market on an annual basis for adults, but that the pediatric market would take longer to build based on shots given so far.

Reuters earlier on Thursday reported that Wall Street was expecting such price hikes due to weak COVID vaccine demand.

Lukin said she does not expect purchasing of the vaccines to transfer to the private sector until the first quarter of 2023 "at the earliest." The move is dependent on the government contracted supply being depleted.

(Reporting by Michael Erman; Writing by Caroline Humer; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

((caroline.humer@thomsonreuters.com;))