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Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Peter Welch (Vt.) are asking Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) CEO Stephane Bancel to reconsider a price hike for COVID-19 vaccines once they become available through the commercial market.
Moderna (MRNA), like rival Pfizer (PFE), has said it plans to hike the price of its COVID shot to between $110 and $130 per dose, far higher than what the federal government has been paying for them.
“Moderna’s (MRNA) price hikes, aside from threatening public health, also raise questions about how Pfizer’s (PFE) similar announcement of vaccine price hikes in October 2022 may have influenced Moderna’s (MRNA) decision-making process regarding its vaccine prices,” the senators wrote.
The senators also noted that Moderna’s (MRNA) vaccine was developed through federally funded research.
The duo also ask Bancel several questions mostly dealing with revenue and profit expected this year from the vaccine.
COVID shots will become available through the commercial market — rather than for free due to federal government purchases — after the public health emergency for the virus is declared over.
Earlier in January, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also sent a letter to Bancel.
