Sales of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech could reach up to $15 billion in 2021 and go higher if Pfizer signs additional supply contracts, Pfizer said Tuesday.
The projections came as Pfizer projected full-year 2021 sales of between $59.4 billion and $61.4 billion, meaning that about one-fourth of estimated total sales will come from the Covid-19 vaccine.
The forecast reflects “a continued recovery in macroeconomic and healthcare activity throughout 2021 as more of the population becomes vaccinated against Covid-19,” Pfizer said.
“These assumptions are guided by the trajectory of current infection rates in many parts of the world and the expected timeline for broad access to effective vaccines.”
Pfizer reported fourth-quarter net income of $594 million, compared with a loss of $337 million in the year-ago period. For all of 2020, Pfizer reported profits of $9.6 billion, down 41.4 percent from 2019, with revenues up two percent to $41.9 billion.
Pfizer’s fourth-quarter revenues included $154 million in sales of the Covid-19 vaccine. The vaccine began winning approval from authorities late last year. Pfizer said it expects it could potentially deliver up to 2 billion doses in 2021 based on several factors, including adding more suppliers and contract manufacturers. Shares of Pfizer rose 0.5 percent to $35.94 in pre-market trading.
Meanwhile, The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said six new cases of the British variant of coronavirus were found in the West African nation at the weekend. NCDC Director-General Chikwe Iheakwazu said the variant was detected in samples collected by scientists at the Africa Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) at a university in southwestern Osun state.
The variant, known as B.1.1.7, has swept Britain and been found in more than 60 nations. The British government last month said early data suggested the strain could be deadlier as well as more transmissible. Iheakwazu said five cases had been detected in Osun state and one in Kwara state. “This is the variant of concern that first emerged in the UK,” he said, during a Monday briefing.
“The five in Osun is most likely related to the fact that this is where ACEGID is and where they get a lot of samples from. In total, we have detected the B.1.1.7 variant in seven cases within Nigeria.” -AFP
