Berlin. Expensive miscalculation: The federal government had bought a million packs of the corona drug Paxlovid. But a large part of it is rotting in the warehouse.
About 420,000 packs of the drug once described as a beacon of hope in the corona pandemic Paxlovid The federal government had it stored because the expiration date had passed. The federal government had centrally purchased one million packs in February 2022.
“Unused goods that Expiry date is currently being stored in quarantine,” a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Health told our editorial team. It is unlikely that the drugs will still be used. “After the initial approval, the shelf life of Paxlovid was extended twice from twelve to 24 months. The pharmaceutical company is not currently planning a further extension. The packs of Paxlovid procured centrally by the ministry were good until the end of February 2024 at the latest,” the spokesman continued.
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The ministry did not provide any information on the value of the stocks. According to research by WDR, NDR and the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the federal government is said to have paid around 650 euros per pack. Accordingly, the 420,000 packs would have been worth around 273 million euros cost.
Paxlovid is a so-called antiviral drug manufactured by the US pharmaceutical company PfizerThe drug is intended to prevent serious disease progression, especially in high-risk patients over 65 years of age. “Pfizer’s Paxlovid drug has been on the market as part of standard care since mid-January 2024,” said the ministry spokesman. Pfizer supplies wholesalers, no longer the federal government. The health insurance companies are the ones who pay for it. According to AOK Rheinland/Hamburg, the pack currently costs 1149.19 euros.
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In Germany, the corona drug is being prescribed with extreme caution. Three of the largest health insurance companies, Techniker Krankenkasse, Barmer and AOK Rheinland-Hamburg, only counted around 15,000 prescriptions during the last corona peak season from October to New Year, despite a large number of infections.
