Pfizer (PFE) expects to manufacture up to 3 billion doses of COVID vaccine by end of this year

Shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) were up 3.5% on Wednesday after the pharma giant reported second quarter 2021 revenue and earnings that surpassed market estimates. The company also raised its guidance for the full year based on higher sales expectations for its COVID vaccine. The stock has gained 18% since the beginning of this year.

Quarterly performance

Pfizer’s revenues rose 92% year-over-year to $19 billion in Q2, driven by growth in multiple products and categories, exceeding expectations. Adjusted EPS increased 73% YoY to $1.07, also coming ahead of projections. The company witnessed revenue growth across all segments, except Inflammation & Immunology which saw revenues fall 12%.  

COVID vaccine

Pfizer generated $7.8 billion in revenue from its COVID-19 vaccine during Q2 2021. The company signed several new supply agreements from mid-April to mid-July and based on this, it has updated its outlook for revenue from its COVID vaccine. For the full year of 2021, Pfizer expects to generate approx. $33.5 billion in revenue from its COVID vaccine. This compares to the previous estimate of approx. $26 billion.

The company has signed contracts for the delivery of approx. 2.1 billion vaccine doses as of mid-July and it currently expects it can manufacture up to 3 billion doses by the end of 2021. With the purchase of an additional 200 million doses last week, the total number of doses Pfizer will supply to the US government to 500 million.

Pfizer believes that a third booster dose might be necessary within a year of full vaccination to ensure maximum protection and the company is undertaking studies and discussions for the evaluation and approval of such a dose. It also plans to start work on evaluating an updated version of its vaccine designed particularly to target the COVID Delta variant.

Pipeline

Pfizer’s Lyme disease vaccine, which is being co-developed with Valneva, is the only active vaccine candidate currently in development for this condition. The Phase 2 study is currently underway and the company expects potential proof of concept in January 2022 as well as the commencement of the Phase 3 study in the first half of 2022.

The company also saw positive data from the Phase 2 study of its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine and it expects to start a global Phase 3 trial during the third quarter.

Outlook

Pfizer increased its outlook for the full year of 2021 based on expectations of increased COVID vaccine sales as well as a general recovery in healthcare activity. Total revenues are now expected to range between $78-80 billion versus the previous outlook of $70.5-72.5 billion. The midpoint of the revenue outlook represents a growth of 89% from 2020.

Adjusted EPS is now expected to range between $3.95-4.05 versus the prior outlook of $3.55-3.65. The midpoint of the earnings outlook represents an increase of 77% over 2020. Excluding the revenues from its COVID vaccine, Pfizer expects total revenues of $45-47 billion and adjusted EPS of $2.55-2.65.

Click here to read the full transcript of Pfizer’s Q2 2021 earnings conference call