Bharat Biotech, Gavi, and UNICEF Strike Deal to Cut Malaria Vaccine Price by 40%
Hyderabad, Oct 23 (TNT): Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) has finalized an agreement with UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to reduce the price of the world’s first malaria vaccine by approximately 40 percent, lowering the cost to €5.50 per dose starting in early 2027.
The revised pricing structure for RTS,S/AS01—manufactured by BBIL under the brand name Mosqivac®—is projected to save national child immunization programs roughly US$50 million between 2027 and 2029, the vaccine maker said in a release on Friday.
Global health officials estimate the cost savings will allow up to one million additional children to receive the full four-dose vaccination regimen.
The price reduction was enabled by advance funding from the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm) and follows a joint $200 million investment by original developer GSK and Bharat Biotech in technology transfer and high-capacity manufacturing facilities to scale global supply at lower costs.
Demand for malaria vaccines has accelerated since rollout began in 2024, with UNICEF procuring and delivering more than 74 million doses to date.
The Gavi-backed immunization effort is currently integrated into routine health schedules across 25 African countries, which shoulder over 70 percent of global malaria incidence.
The disease remains one of the leading causes of child mortality worldwide, claiming a child’s life roughly every minute.
Clinical data shows that a complete four-dose course of RTS,S/AS01 cuts malaria cases by approximately 75 percent when administered seasonally in high-transmission zones.
According to Gavi and UNICEF, lowering production costs is essential to sustaining routine rollouts amid broader contractions in international development funding, helping the Alliance advance toward its goal of vaccinating 50 million children against malaria by 2030.
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