Empty vials of Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) children’s vaccines are pictured at Skippack Pharmacy in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, US, May 19, 2022.
Hannah Beer | reuters
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic pushed pharmaceutical company Pfizer’s earnings to a record $100 billion last year, of which about $57 billion was driven by its vaccine and antiviral pill Paxlovid.
The vaccine accounts for $37.8 billion in Pfizer’s total sales, expected to grow by just 3% from 2021 as demand for the shots slows. But sales of its blockbuster antiviral treatment made up for that softness, rising to $18.9 billion in 2022, Paxlovid’s first full year on the market.
Pfizer’s combined sales of its Covid vaccine and antiviral treatment generated more revenue last year than total sales in 2019, before the pandemic became a global crisis that killed more than 6.8 million people and sent world markets crashing. Impressed. Those results would not be repeated this year.
Pfizer told investors that revenue is expected to decline by 33% in 2023 to between $67 billion and $71 billion as the world emerges from the pandemic and demand for its blockbuster Covid drugs slows.
Sales of Covid vaccines are projected to drop 64% to $13.5 billion this year from $37.8 billion in 2022. Paxlovid sales are expected to drop 58% from $8 billion in 2023 to $18.9 billion in 2022.
Pfizer is also forecasting that its full-year earnings per share will fall 50% to $3.25 to $3.45 in 2022 from record EPS of $6.58.
Company’s fourth quarter results largely in line with analysts’ expectations,
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla last quarter laid out a 2030 development plan for the company One who looks beyond the pandemic. Bourla said he sees future revenue growth from RSV vaccines and drugs for migraine and ulcerative colitis, among other pharmaceutical products.