London, Europe Brief News – Pfizer on Feb. 8 reported $36.8 billion in 2021 sales for its COVID-19 vaccine, making it the highest-selling pharmaceutical product in a single year.
In 2021, Pfizer hauled in $7.8 billion in U.S. COVID-19 vaccine sales and $29 billion in international sales.
The second-highest sales of a pharmaceutical product in a single year also came in 2021, as AbbVie raked in $20.7 billion for its rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira.
Pfizer controls about 70 percent of the COVID-19 vaccine market in the U.S. and Europe, according to Endpoints News.
Through mid-April, Pfizer said it has clinched $32 billion in 2022 contracts for the shot, Comirnaty, and $22 billion for its Covid pill, Paxlovid, the same figures it released three months ago. Wall Street analysts had estimated about $34 billion in annual sales from Comirnaty, which the company makes in partnership with BioNTech SE, and $27 billion in Paxlovid sales.
The shares fluctuated early Tuesday and were little changed at 9:35 a.m. in New York. Through Monday’s close, they had plummeted 18% since the start of the year, underperforming the broader sector. American depository receipts of BioNTech, which splits Comirnaty profit with Pfizer, rose 1.2%. Rival vaccine-maker Moderna Inc. fell 0.3%.
The New York-based drugmaker also left untouched its forecast for overall full-year revenue of $98 billion to $102 billion. Though investors are hoping that the market for Covid-fighting products will continue to expand. Pfizer’s shot and pill already account for more than half that forecast, as well as more than half its quarterly revenue.
