Pfizer loses $88 BILLION in market share as Americans leave COVID behind and sales of virus drugs and vaccines plummet
- The company broke the $100 billion sales barrier last year thanks to its Covid vaccine
- But it has been razed to the ground now that the virus has been brought under control
- Stocks are down 31 percent in 2023 and $144 billion is down from peak valuation
Pfizer has lost $88 billion in market share in just one year as the drugmaker is hungover from the success of its Covid vaccine.
The pharmaceutical giant posted record $100 billion in revenue last year, powered by its Covid vaccine and drug.
But after becoming the first pharmaceutical company to break the billion-dollar mark, its performance has fallen off a cliff this year.
The company’s role in alleviating the worst of the pandemic has left it a victim of its own success as demand for its Covid products declines along with serious cases of the virus.
Shares are down 31 percent year-to-date, a loss of more than $88 billion in market cap.
Pfizer’s sales got a boost last year thanks to the Covid vaccine, becoming the first pharmaceutical giant to break the multibillion-dollar mark
But it has lost $88 billion in market share in just one year as demand for its Covid treatments decline along with serious cases of the virus
Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, has said the company is ready to move forward with Covid and focus on rolling out a range of new drugs in other areas.
Pfizer’s valuation is down $144 billion since its peak in 2021.
This cycle is not unusual for pharmaceutical giants, which often experience peaks and troughs as patents on their drugs expire.
Pfizer itself has endured similar sales declines in the past for Viagra and its anticholesterol drug Lipitor.
But the current plight has been exacerbated by its decision to slim down and become a growth stock, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The New York-based drugmaker cut slower-growing companies that provided steady cash flow prior to the pandemic, betting instead on fast-growing but more volatile prescription drugs.
It paid off during the pandemic, as Pfizer sold billions of the Covid-19 shots it co-developed with Germany’s BioNTech.
Shares of the company reached an all-time high of about $61 in December 2021 at the peak of the Omicron variant.
But it has since been razed to the ground, with its shares now worth about $35.
Earlier this year, Pfizer said it expects its Covid vaccine to reach $13.5 billion in sales by 2023, down about two-thirds from last year.
Meanwhile, it said its Covid-19 antiviral drug Paxlovid is expected to generate about $8 billion in sales this year, down 58 percent from last year.
Sales are lower as governments have bought fewer contracts and the US is moving towards a commercial market for anti-Covid drugs.
A massive EF-3 tornado destroyed a Pfizer plant in North Carolina in July, which the company says could also impact drug sales
The factory, seen before the destruction, also produces vials, syringes, infusion bags and bottles of anesthesia, analgesia, therapies, anti-infectives and neuromuscular blockers
Tornado damage to a North Carolina plant in July could also affect sales, the company said.
Pfizer said last week it should have a better idea of future demand for its pandemic products by the end of the year, by which time it will have launched its latest Covid-19 shot.
If sales are disappointing, the company is prepared to change course.
CEO Albert Bourla has said Pfizer is “moving after Covid.”
The company has announced plans to increase sales by approving new drugs.
It predicts sales of more than $10 billion by 2030 from the proposed $43 billion deal to purchase cancer drug biotech Seagen as it revolves around anticarcinogenic treatments.
The FDA has approved four Pfizer drugs so far this year. The company is more than halfway toward its goal of rolling out 19 new drugs or expanded use over 18 months through the first half of 2024.
According to Jefferies analyst Akash Tewari, an experimental multiple myeloma drug called elranatamab, which is subject to FDA approval, could generate about $1 billion in sales by 2030.