Pharmaceutical companies told to slash price of pneumococcal disease vaccine

GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer must lower prices to make vaccines needed by children affordable in poorer countries, says MSF

Two giant pharmaceutical companies should lower the price of a new vaccine against pneumococcal disease that is needed by children in developing countries, but is unaffordable for some of their governments, say the volunteer doctors of Médecins sans Frontières (MSF).

In a new report on vaccine pricing, MSF says British company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and US giant Pfizer should slash the price of the vaccines to $5 (£3.20) per child in developing countries. At the moment, the two big pharma companies are the sole manufacturers of the pneumococcal vaccine.

We think it’s time for GSK and Pfizer to do their part to make vaccines more affordable

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