Categories: Health

The Covid pandemic will push Pfizer’s sales to a record $100 billion in 2022

Empty vials of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines for children against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are pictured at Skippack Pharmacy in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, the United States, May 19, 2022.

Hannah Beier Reuters

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic pushed pharmaceutical company Pfizer’s revenue to a record $100 billion last year, of which nearly $57 billion came from its vaccine and antiviral pill Paxlovid, the company reported on Tuesday.

The vaccine accounted for $37.8 billion, up just 3% from 2021 of Pfizer’s total sales, as demand for the syringes slowed. But sales of its blockbuster antiviral treatment recouped that decline, climbing to $18.9 billion in 2022, Paxlovid’s first full year on the market.

related investment news

Pfizer’s combined sales of its Covid vaccine and antiviral treatment generated more sales last year than total sales in 2019, before the pandemic escalated into a global crisis that killed more than 6.8 million and shaken world markets head turned. These results will not be repeated this year.

Pfizer told investors it expects revenue to fall by as much as 33% to $67 billion to $71 billion in 2023 as the world emerges from the pandemic and demand for its blockbuster Covid drugs eases.

Sales of Covid vaccines are expected to fall 64% this year to $13.5 billion from $37.8 billion in 2022. Paxlovid’s revenue is expected to fall 58% from $18.9 billion in 2022 to $8 billion in 2023.

Pfizer also forecasts full-year earnings per share to fall by as much as 50% to between $3.25 and $3.45 from a record EPS of $6.58 in 2022.

The company’s fourth-quarter results were broadly in line with analysts’ expectations.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla last quarter laid out a growth plan for the company through 2030 that looks beyond the pandemic. Bourla said he sees future sales growth from RSV vaccines and drugs for migraine and ulcerative colitis, among other drugs.