Pfizer on Wednesday said it will set the U.S. price for its COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid at nearly $1,400 per five-day course when it moves to commercial sales after government stocks run out.

The U.S. government paid around $530 per course for Paxlovid it has made available to Americans at no cost.

The new list price before rebates and other discounts to insurers and pharmacy benefit managers is $1,390 per course, Pfizer said in an emailed statement.

The United States purchased around 24 million courses of the oral two-drug treatment from Pfizer, and had still had a large supply, but arranged to return 7.9 million courses last week.

Under that deal, a credit for the returned Paxlovid doses will pay for Pfizer to supply the pills at no charge to uninsured and underinsured Americans through 2028, and to patients insured under the government's Medicare and Medicaid programs through the end of next year.

The new list price was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. (Reporting by Michael Erman in Maplewood, N.J.; Editing by Bill Berkrot)