Bharat Biotech slashes malaria vaccine price on GAVI-backed pact with UNICEF

Vaccine maker Bharat Biotech International on Friday said it is reducing the price of malaria vaccine Mosqivac by about 40% following an agreement executed by UNICEF and financially backed by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Enabled through an advance payment by the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm), the agreement will bring the price of the vaccine to € 5.50 per dose, a reduction of approximately 40 per cent compared to current price of € 9.30.

The lower price is expected to take effect by early 2027 and reflects the sustained efforts to shape a more sustainable and competitive malaria vaccine market, Bharat Biotech said announcing the agreement for equitable pricing for the vaccine.

The price reduction will generate around $50 million in savings to child immunisation programmes between 2027 and 2029 and reach up to one million more children with the full four-dose course, it said in a release announcing equitable pricing.

RTS,S/AS01, developed by GSK, PATH and partners, and manufactured by Bharat Biotech under the Mosqivac brand, was the first malaria vaccine to be recommended by the WHO, in 2021. Since then, GSK and Bharat Biotech have invested $200 million in new, higher-output manufacturing facilities, product development and technology transfer to expand and strengthen supply at a lower cost.

“The Gavi–UNICEF deal is a far-reaching commitment to expand malaria vaccination... As partners in global public health, we have invested significantly to expand supply, strengthen manufacturing and support sustainable, affordable access to malaria vaccines,” Bharat Biotech Executive Chairman Krishna Ella said.

GSK’s Chief Global Health Officer Harmony P. Garges said “at a time when global health resources are under increasing pressure – both for international organisations and for countries – partnership matters more than ever. This deal with Gavi–UNICEF further demonstrates how close collaboration across the global health landscape can help deliver real impact for children most at risk of malaria.”

Demand for malaria vaccines has exceeded initial forecasts since rollout began in 2024. To date, more than 74 million doses have been procured and delivered by UNICEF. The Gavi-funded malaria programme is now part of routine immunisation in 25 African countries that bear more than 70 per cent of the global malaria burden.

A full immunisation course of four doses of RTS,S/AS01 reduces malaria cases by about 75 per cent when given seasonally in areas of high seasonal transmission.