GSK to submit price quotation for PCVs once DOH calls for open bidding

Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on Sunday said it would submit a price quote for its pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) once the government opens bidding for a supply contract.

"We will submit price quote for GSK’s PCV when the DOH has called for an open, competitive PCV bidding, in light of recent body of evidence and recommendations by global vaccine authorities, including the WHO, whose position as early as 2017 highlighted the comparability of the two available PCVs in preventing overall pneumococcal diseases in children," said GSK Medical Director Gyneth Lourdes Bibera.

"While GSK’s PCV pricing will be determined by several factors, including supply and currency exchange, our goal is to help the DOH save more Filipino children from deaths due to pneumococcal diseases and introduce potential substantial savings to the government," she added.

The Department of Health (DOH) has put PCV13 under health technology assessment to determine its safety and effectiveness after its procurement was postponed due to calls for an open and competitive bidding.

The DOH had postponed the bidding for P4.9 billion worth of PCV stock for 2020 to review the data raised by pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo earlier said, noting that GSK asked for a reconsideration of its vaccine as a “viable option.”

For its part, Pfizer, which currently supplies the DOH with PCV13, said that the DOH had been using the said vaccines since 2014. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/DVM, GMA News