Serum Institute reduces Covishield price for states to Rs 300 per dose

CEO calls move a ‘philanthropic’ gesture, decision comes two days after central order

The reduction in the price follows widespread criticism of Serum Institute's pricing policy as it had sold the initial doses of Covishield to the central government at Rs 150 per dose.: Getty Images

TT Bureau, Agencies   |   Pune   |  8.04.21  :  Serum Institute of India (SII) -- the maker of the most used COVID-19 vaccine in the country -- on Wednesday announced a cut in price of the jab it plans to sell to states to Rs 300 per dose from the earlier Rs 400.

This follows widespread criticism of its pricing policy as it had sold the initial doses of Covishield to the central government at Rs 150 per dose.

SII's CEO Adar Poonawalla took to Twitter to announce the "philanthropic" gesture.

"As a philanthropic gesture on behalf of @SerumInstIndia, I hereby reduce the price to the states from Rs 400 to Rs 300 per dose, effective immediately; this will save thousands of crores of state funds going forward. This will enable more vaccinations and save countless lives," he said.

On Monday, the Centre had asked the Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech to lower the price of their Covid-19 vaccines amid criticism from various states who accused the companies of profiteering during such a major crisis.

The Pune-based institute, the world's largest vaccine maker in terms of volume, had announced a price of Rs 400 per dose for its Covid-19 vaccine, 'Covishield', for state governments and Rs 600 per dose for private hospitals.

The Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has fixed the price of its Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, at Rs 600 per dose for state governments and at Rs 1,200 per dose for private hospitals.