Mpox Vaccine Manufacturer’s Excessive Price, Trump Administration Cuts Compromise Access
WASHINGTON, D.C. — There are far too few mpox vaccines to support the ongoing disease response in Africa, according to a new Public Citizen report.
On Monday, the World Health Organization declared mpox is still considered a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). Meanwhile, Bavarian Nordic’s steep price for its mpox shot, Jynneos (MVA-BN), threatens to impede the response in Africa, according to the report.
The Africa CDC estimates a need for as many as 6.4 million doses to help contain the outbreak and target endemic areas, but UNICEF can’t even afford the remaining 350,000 doses of Jynneos per its agreement with the biotech company for 1 million doses priced at $65 per dose. The report compares dose availability in the 2022-23 emergency, which significantly affected the United States, and availability in the current emergency, concentrated in Africa.
Nine months into the mpox emergency from 2022 to 2023, the U.S. had 3.2 million vaccine doses. That’s nearly six times as many doses as Africa does now, nine months into the current emergency. Even more concerning – Africa has nearly 70 times as many mpox cases than the U.S. had at the same point in time in the last emergency. Essentially, Africa is making due with roughly 400 times fewer MVA-BN doses per case than the U.S. – an incredible shortage compared to health need.
Additionally, the Trump administration has yet to fulfill a U.S. commitment to provide one million stockpiled doses to the fight, further constraining supply. Trump’s orders freezing foreign aid and stopping work with WHO blocked U.S. plans to support the ongoing mpox response.
“Bavarian Nordic’s excessive pricing only reinforces the inequity seen during the last mpox emergency—when rich countries claimed the vast majority of scarce doses while poorer countries largely went without,” said Public Citizen Access to Medicines Researcher Megan Whiteman, who authored the report. “This time, Bavarian Nordic has the capacity to increase supplies, but the vaccine is simply priced out of reach. Corporations that produce health technologies must abandon the status quo approach long insufficient for delivering equitable access, especially now that massive upheaval threatens humanity’s progress against so many diseases.”
In a letter last Thursday, Public Citizen once again urged Bavarian Nordic to quarter the price of its mpox shot for UNICEF, saying “In this time of scarcity, [Bavarian Nordic has] a responsibility to price affordably so that health agencies can meet dire health needs.”