Pfizer stepped out strong in its first-quarter earnings report after its COVID vaccine and oral antiviral treatment, Paxloid combined to boost its revenue.
The pharmaceutical giant’s first-quarter revenue grew 77 percent to more than $25 billion compared to the same period in 2021, according to an official financial statement released on Tuesday.
The revenue growth was driven by $13.2 billion in COVID vaccine sales in the quarter and $1.5 billion in sales of its oral antiviral treatment Paxlovid.
Pfizer recorded a net income of $7.8 billion, marking a 61 percent increase over the first quarter of 2021. Adjusted earnings grew 72 percent to $1.62 per share compared to the same period last year.
Pfizer said booster doses and shots for children drove its COVID vaccine revenue. Paxlovid sales were driven by the antiviral treatment’s launch in the U.S., which has ordered 20 million courses.
Pfizer reaffirmed its full-year 2022 guidance of $32 billion in COVID vaccine sales and $22 billion for Paxlovid.
Read also: COVID19: We are letting our guard down!
Albert Bourla, the chief executive officer had told analysts earlier this year that revenue from its antiviral treatment could come in higher because estimates are based only on deals signed or those close to finalisation.
The company is still projecting $98 billion to $102 billion in total sales for 2022.
“I am very proud of our performance this quarter, both from a financial perspective and from the standpoint of trying to be a force for good in the world. We continue to supply the world with Comirnaty, which remains a critical tool for helping patients and societies avoid the worst impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are on track to fulfill our commitment to deliver at least 2 billion doses to low- and middle-income countries in 2021 and 2022, including at least 1 billion doses this year,” he said.
In response to the devastating war in Ukraine, he said the company has chosen to continue to supply the people of Russia with the medications they need, and is donating all profits from its Russian subsidiary to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.
Paxlovid is an effective treatment for people who have COVID, but it does not prevent infection. It reduces the risk of hospitalisation or death from COVID by 90 percent in a clinical trial of adults who caught the virus and were at high risk of developing severe illness. However, it failed to prevent infection in separate trial results published Friday by Pfizer.
Pfizer is submitting data to the Food and Drug Administration on its three-dose vaccine for children under 5-years-old, the only age group left in the U.S. that is not yet eligible for a shot. Bourla, in a podcast interview, said he hopes the vaccine for kids will receive authorization in June.
The FDA had originally sought to authorise the first two doses in February, but Pfizer postponed its application because the data wasn’t good enough. Bourla has said a third dose should significantly increase protection for the youngest children.
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