Pfizer posts quarterly loss as covid drug sales plummet after pandemic   

The pharmaceutical company, which employs 5,000 people in Ireland, said last week it would close two facilities in the US

Shares in pharmaceutical giant Pfizer have fallen 40% this year, mostly due to a decline in demand for products related to covid.

Pfizer's sales missed expectations for the quarter as its covid shot and pill continued to create instability for the drugmaker’s efforts to transition out of the pandemic.

A little more than two weeks after Pfizer shocked the market by cutting $9bn (€8.5bn) from its full-year sales guidance as a result of plummeting demand for its covid products, sales of its vaccine and pill once again disappointed. Investors have been looking for a floor in the company’s plummeting covid business after those products at one point nearly doubled its revenue.

While the fading covid sales were “not a huge surprise,” Evan Seigerman, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets said. “We want to hear more from management on the path to sustainable growth with the covid reset behind us.” 

The fortunes of Pfizer are closely watched in Ireland. It employs 5,000 people here and has likely contributed a large amounts in corporation tax to the exchequer during the covid years.  

Cutting costs

Pfizer also said it’s cutting about $3.5bn in costs across the company, including layoffs and reductions in research and development expenses. The company said last week that it would close two facilities in North Carolina as part of those measures.

Overall third-quarter sales fell 42% to $13.2bn, short of the Wall Street view of $13.5bn. The company posted a loss of 17 cents a share on an adjusted basis, compared with the average estimate for a loss of 33 cents. The quarterly loss was Pfizer’s first on an adjusted basis more than three decades. 

Sales of its covid booster fell 70% to $1.31bn, around $200m short of analysts’ expectations, and Paxlovid sales tumbled 97% to $202m, missing the mark by nearly $170m. Questions remain about the prospects for Paxlovid, as well as whether the drugmaker’s expectation for vaccination rates with the latest covid boosters is too optimistic.

Earlier this month, Pfizer agreed to take millions of Paxlovid courses back from the US government, which should allow for more private, higher-priced sales of the drug. 

As for Pfizer’s other drugs, blood-thinner Eliquis narrowly missed estimates with sales of $1.5bn in revenue. Ibrance, a breast cancer treatment, met expectations of $1.24bn in sales. A group of shots to protect against pneumonia beat estimates with sales of $1.85bn. 

The company also awaits US regulatory approval for its $43bn acquisition of cancer biotech firm Seagen. The deal got unconditional support from European Union regulators, suggesting it may not face much US scrutiny.

“The road ahead remains challenging” for Pfizer, said Cit stock analyst Andrew Baum. In addition to the covid franchise downturn, the expensive Seagen purchase has potential for “talent-loss post integration”, he said.