Pfizer: In 2023, COVID-19's product revenue will decline significantly

Pfizer released its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2022. The data showed that the company's revenue in the fourth quarter was 24.3 billion US dollars, slightly exceeding the market expectation of 24.23 billion US dollars, compared with 23.838 billion US dollars in the same period last year; The net profit in the fourth quarter was $5 billion, expected to be $5.96 billion, compared with $3.4 billion in the same period last year. Pfizer's share price fell 1.9% in the US stock market.

In the fourth quarter, the revenue of COVID-19 Paxlovid was $1.834 billion, compared with $7.514 billion in the previous quarter; In the fourth quarter, the business income of COVID-19 Vaccine Comirnaty was US $11.329 billion, compared with US $12.504 billion in the same period of the previous year.

In the whole year of 2022, the revenue was a record $100.33 billion, up 23% year on year; The adjusted profit was USD 37714.7 million, up 63% year on year.

In last year's revenue of 100 billion dollars, the revenue of COVID-19 related products contributed more than half. In recent months, Pfizer has always said that its performance will decline, but the downturn of its COVID-19 business is more serious than analysts expected.

Pfizer expects revenue of $67 billion to $71 billion in 2023, and the market is expected to be $71.75 billion. It is estimated that the adjusted earnings per share in 2023 will reach $3.25 to $3.45, far lower than the market expectation of $4.31.

Pfizer expects that the revenue of COVID-19 related products will decline significantly. It is estimated that the revenue of COVID-19 Vaccine Cominernity in 2023 will be about US $13.5 billion, down 64% from the previous year, lower than the market's expectation of US $16 billion; COVID-19 Paxlovid's revenue was about $8 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 58%, lower than the market's expected $9.2 billion.

Albert Bourla, chief executive of Pfizer, said that last year was a record year for Pfizer. Although we are proud of our achievements, our focus is always on how to do next.

Bourla pointed out that 2023 should be a "transition year" for Pfizer COVID-19 products, and growth may resume in 2024.

The sharp decline of COVID-19's product revenue is not the only headwind Pfizer faces. The patents of some of the company's best-selling drugs will expire after 2025, such as Ibrance for cancer treatment and Xeljanz for arthritis treatment. Pfizer said that due to the expiration of the patent, it is expected that the company will lose $17 billion in annual sales between 2025 and 2030.