GSK
cuts vaccine price for refugees, bowing to pressure
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[September 20, 2016]
LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline
is cutting the price charged for its pneumococcal vaccine when given to
refugees, following complaints about the product's "exorbitant" cost by
medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.
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The British drugmaker said on Monday it would provide Synflorix,
which protects children against pneumonia and other diseases, at a
discounted price of $3.05 per dose to recognized civil society
organizations.
In Greece, MSF said it had been forced to pay 50 pounds ($65) a dose
in local pharmacies in order to vaccinate thousands of refugee
children fleeing from conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
GSK said its offer was made on the basis that others would not seek
to reference the special price, which is intended solely to support
refugee populations.
Previously, the low price of $3.05 price has only been available to
the world’s poorest countries.
Pfizer also makes a pneumococcal vaccine called Prevnar. The U.S.
company had no immediate comment on its pricing plans.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler, editing by William Hardy)
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