Pfizer earnings jump on strong sales of Covid-19 products

Pfizer reported a jump in second-quarter profits Thursday behind a near doubling of revenues driven by sales of its Covid-19 vaccine and therapeutic drug Paxlovid.

The drugmaker raised some of its overall financial benchmarks, but maintained 2022 sales targets for its two Covid-19 products: $32 billion from the vaccine co-developed with German company BioNTech; and $22 billion from Paxlovid.

The total is equal to just over half of forecasted 2022 total revenues.

In the quarter ending June 30, profits were $9.9 billion, up 78 percent from the year-ago period following a 47 percent jump in revenues to $27.7 billion.

US officials last month approved emergency authorization to Pfizer and Moderna for Covid-19 vaccines in under-five-year-olds, the final age group awaiting immunization in most countries.

Pfizer is currently working on a Covid-19 Omicron vaccine booster candidate for the fall, assuming regulatory approval is granted, company officials said.

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Pfizer and German BioNTech have also submitted data for an Omicron vaccine to the European Medicines Agency.

"Pfizer is well positioned to satisfy its current contractual obligations and potential demand within its production capacity through the end of the year," said Chief Executive Albert Bourla in a statement.

Sales for both its Covid-19 products rose during the quarter.

Revenues for the vaccine came in at $8.8 billion, up 13 percent from the year-ago period, while sales of Paxlovid were $8.1 billion -- a big jump over the prior quarter following a five-fold growth in US utilization.

Shares fell 0.2 percent to $51.43 in pre-market trading.

Source: AFP