New York (AFP) – Pfizer reported a dip in profits Tuesday, driven partly by lower sales of Covid-19 therapeutic drug Paxlovid, as it maintained a 2025 forecast that does not include potential tariff effects. Sales of Paxlovid slid 75 percent amid lower Covid-19 infections and reduced government purchases of the medication.
But Pfizer scored higher revenues for its Covid-19 vaccine, along with some other products, including the heart medication Vyndaqel and the cancer drug Padcev. Profits in the first quarter fell five percent to $3.0 billion, while revenues dropped eight percent to $13.7 billion.
Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said the company’s discontinuation earlier this month of the Danuglipron obesity drug was the right call after a participant in a trial experienced a liver injury that cleared up after the treatment was stopped. Pfizer is developing other medications in the obesity and related areas and could pursue “external opportunities” such as partnerships or acquisitions, Bourla said.
Pfizer is also working on treatments for a number of other ailments, including bladder cancer and multiple myeloma, Bourla said. “We are on track for a strong year of anticipated pipeline catalysts,” he said. The drugmaker maintained its full-year sales forecast of between $61-64 billion.
In 2024, Pfizer’s revenues were $63.6 billion. The projection “does not currently include any potential impact related to future tariffs and trade policy changes, which we are unable to predict at this time,” Pfizer said. Pfizer said it is on track to deliver $4.5 billion in cost savings through the end of 2025.
It also is implementing a reorganization of its research and development, and a manufacturing “optimization” program. Shares rose 0.5 percent in pre-market trading.
© 2024 AFP
