Pfizer won billions in compensation from Poland. The government has a strong card in its hand. Will he use her?
“Poland has to pay billions for unclaimed vaccines.” These titles probably froze the Minister of Finance and Economy, Andrzej Domański, at the beginning of April, who was already having a lot of worries about finalizing the state budget. By decision of the court in Brussels for COVID-19 vaccines not collected in 2022.
On April 12, 2022, Poland, represented by the Ministry of Health, informed Pfizer Inc. and the EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety that it will not accept delivery of COVID-19 vaccines. In this way, the contract of May 2021 was terminated. The Polish government then contracted as part of EU procurement 1.1 billion doses worth over EUR 21 billion (approx. PLN 90 billion). Later it turned out that it was much too much for our needs, we gave many doses for free to other countries, including: so as not to incur the costs of their disposal.
In response to the defeat in court, the current Ministry of Health announced that Poland would appeal against the verdict. Years ago, the government refused to accept some of the supplies and pay for them, arguing that the emergency situation had changed. According to Pfizer, the contract should be performed as agreed – regardless of changing circumstances.
Read also: Vaccine dispute with Pfizer. Neither option is good
A contract is a contract, we ordered it, we should pay and collect it. Another thing is that Pfizer hasn't even produced these vaccines yet, so formally it hasn't lost anything, and before that it made a lot of money on this contract. However, the Polish government still has an informal argument for Pfizer to at least soften its demands, if not waive its claims. After all, Pfizer sells many of its drugs in Poland only thanks to reimbursement from the state budget. More and more refunds.
A strong card in the hand of the Polish government
The pharmaceutical market is not a fully free market. How much drug manufacturers earn is determined not only by ordinary customers, but also by state governments. The case of COVID-19 vaccines is just an example of a broader phenomenon. The state orders and pays for medicines with huge amounts of tax money.
In 2025, as much as PLN 28.5 billion was allocated for reimbursement of medicines from the Polish state budget. That's 18 percent. more year to year i as much as twice as much as in 2021. – according to Business Insider's calculations based on data from the Ministry of Health. We checked how much of it Pfizer received and how much other manufacturers received.
In 2025, the amount of reimbursement for Pfizer increased by as much as 131%. year to year. The state budget allocated PLN 919 million to subsidize pharmaceuticals from this manufacturerwhile a year earlier it was PLN 399 million – according to Business Insider calculations.
Thus, Pfizer jumped to seventh place among the companies whose budget subsidizes the most for the drugs they sell. Pfizer products received 3.2 percent from all refunds in 2025 A year earlier, it was only in 17th place with 1.6 percent. total amount.
Pfizer too low in reimbursements
Pfizer is the sixth largest pharmaceutical company in the world in terms of revenues, so these are certainly low positions for the company's position. In the case of Poland, only last year overtook, among others, larger rival Eli Lilly, but in previous years it occupied further positions in the reimbursement hierarchy.
What caused the subsidy for Pfizer's medicines from Polish public finances to increase so much? Mainly increase in reimbursement of the RSV vaccine with the trade name Abrysvo. The RSV virus is the main pathogen responsible for respiratory infections in older children and the most common cause of lower respiratory tract diseases in infants. All parents who have had their children in children's hospitals know about the threat.
Read also: Drug prices and sales in pharmacies. See how much money Poles spent
In 2025, it was used to reimburse this preparation as much as PLN 448.4 millionwhile a year earlier – only 3.6 thousand. zloty. It only jumped in last year. on the list of reimbursed drugs.
Reimbursement has also increased significantly Pfizer's oncology drug called Bavencioused as monotherapy in adult patients with metastatic cancer in the touch receptors, with cancer originating in the urinary tract, and with renal cell carcinoma, which is a type of kidney cancer. While in 2024 the state contributed PLN 42 million to the purchase of this drug, in 2025 already PLN 61 million.
We asked the Ministry of Health about negotiations with Pfizer and whether the reimbursement argument was used? Unfortunately, we have not received an answer for a week. Similarly, the Pfizer press office did not send a response. We asked, among other things, whether he was willing to negotiate compensation, given the huge tax subsidies for the sale of his medicines.
Who gets the most refunds
As we have already mentioned, Pfizer is only in seventh place on the list of companies producing drugs that are most reimbursed in Poland. The Polish private manufacturer, Polpharma, has been receiving the most for years.
In 2025 According to our calculations, Polpharma received PLN 4.2 billion, or 14.8%. all refunds. A year earlier, PLN 3.7 billion was spent on Polpharma's medicines. For comparison, Polpharma's revenues from the sale of goods and products in 2024 amounted to PLN 4.9 billion. This shows how important refunds are for producers.
When it comes to individual pharmaceuticals, the largest refund for Polpharma in 2025 – PLN 75 million compared to PLN 71 million a year earlier went to Salmex drugused to treat asthma. The drug also received significant money Nedal — PLN 51 million compared to PLN 44 million a year earlier. It is a heart drug that lowers blood pressure.
After Polpharma, it was in second place among drug manufacturers with the highest reimbursement AstraZeneca. For reimbursement of medicines from a British-Swedish manufacturer PLN 1.7 billion went. That's 6.1 percent. more year to year. For drug reimbursement Forxigaused to treat type 2 diabetes, chronic heart failure and chronic kidney disease, the state added last year. as much as PLN 528 million compared to PLN 354 million a year earlier.
Finally, the third beneficiary of the refund in Poland is Swiss Roche. In 2025, its medicines received funding of PLN 1.6 billion, i.e. 5.6%. more y/y Here, the anticancer drug receives the highest reimbursement Perjetaused to treat breast cancer, which slows down the growth of cancer cells. Its funding was allocated in 2025. as much as PLN 254 millionand within five years a total of PLN 1.2 billion.
Author: Jacek Frączyk, editor of Business Insider Polska
