Pfizer’s first-quarter beat of Wall Street expectations on sales and profit in the first three months of the year was welcome news for a pharma giant that has struggled to overcome the slump in demand for its Covid vaccine and medication that had paid such rich dividends during the pandemic.
But the group is still largely trading on hope.
Rising demand for its blood thinner blockbuster, Eliquis, was a significant element in its improved performance. Sales were 13 per cent ahead of the period a year ago in headline terms, or 8 per cent once forex and other factors are taken into account, with growth stronger outside the US.
The drug accounted for 15 per cent – or more than $1 in every $7 – of Pfizer sales in the first three months of the year.
Unfortunately for Pfizer, Eliquis loses its patent protection in a couple of years’ time.
The story is the same for most of Pfizer’s top sellers. Oncology drug Ibrance, which delivered more than $1 billion (€850 million) in sales in Q1, loses key patent protection next year, as does vaccine Prevnar 13, one of a family of vaccines that still accounts for 11 per cent of sales.
And while Pfizer has switched heart patients from patent-exposed Vyndaqel to Vyndamax, another formulation of the same medication, it only secured extended patent protection out to 2031 for that newer drug by settling with a number of generics producers. As those medicines also account for more than 11 per cent of sales – or $1.6 billion – that makes sense at least for now.
Chief executive Albert Bourla is bullish about the prospects for the group’s pipeline, especially in obesity drugs and in cancer therapies. However, as JP Morgan analyst Chris Schott said, while there are several drugs in that pipeline “that could make the story more interesting over time”, investors will need to see more clinical data and reduced risk around those programmes before sentiment improves.
The first obesity drug from its $10 billion purchase of Metsera, even if successful in trials, will not come to market before 2028.
For now, the 22 per cent growth in revenue from recently launched and acquired drugs shows the group is trying hard to offset its post-Covid hangover. But that looming patent cliff is definite while the prospects for the pipeline remain to be proven. Pfizer still has work to do.
