Pharmaceutical Firms Sign Deal to Provide Cut-Price Vaccines
March 24, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
The drug rug makers Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline have signed a 10-year deal to provide vaccines to combat pneumococcal diseases — such as pneumonia and meningitis — to developing nations at a fraction of their cost in the developing world, according to Reuters.
The agreement was brokered by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, a partnership backed by world health agencies, national governments, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The pact, signed Tuesday, calls on the drug companies to supply 60 million doses a year at rates of $3.50 to $7 per dose in developing countries, compared to $54 to $108 in richer nations. The vaccine alliance estimates the deal could save some 900,000 lives by 2015.
