Pfizer lifts 2022 forecast for Covid-19 vaccine sales as profits rise

The big US drugmaker now expects 2022 sales of the Comirnaty Covid-19 vaccine of $34 billion, up $2 billion from the prior outlook.

In this file photo taken on November 9, 2020, a woman wears a facemask as she walks by the Pfizer world headquarters in New York. Pfizer reported higher quarterly profits on November 1, 2022, as it lifted its full-year forecast for coronavirus vaccine sales and predicted Covid-19 would yield billions more in revenues for the forseeable future. The big US drugmaker now expects 2022 sales of the Comirnaty Covid-19 vaccine of $34 billion, up $2 billion from the prior outlook. Kena Betancur / AFP

Pfizer maintained its projection of $22 billion in annual sales for its Paxlovid therapeutic for Covid-19.

More than two years into the pandemic, Chief Executive Albert Bourla predicted revenues for Covid-19 products would persist even though they are likely to fall from their 2022 levels.

"We believe our Covid-19 franchises will remain multi-billion revenue generators for the forseeable future, which should serve as a buffer for any unforeseen challenges with other products in our portfolio," Bourla said in prepared remarks.

The most recent quarter included an 83 percent surge in Covid-19 vaccine revenues in the United States, driven by deliveries of the latest booster shot for the Omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent vaccine.

Overall, Pfizer reported profits of $8.6 billion in the third quarter, up six percent from the year-ago period on a six percent drop in revenues to $22.6 billion.

Bourla said Pfizer was on track to launch up to 19 new products in the next year and a half. He highlighted potential "blockbuster" products for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), Ulcerative colitis and Migraine.

Bourla said the product pipeline should alleviate "understandable" questions about Pfizer's growth potential in the 2025 to 2030 given the loss of some $17 billion in revenues due to patent expirations.

Shares of Pfizer rose 3.5 percent to $48.20 in pre-market trading.

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