The company joins Eli Lilly in offering its own digital platform to more directly connect to patients, allowing them easier access to healthcare providers and prescription drugs.
Pfizer on Tuesday launched a new website that will allow the pharma to more directly connect to patients and provide access to drugs for migraine and a variety of common respiratory conditions.
PfizerForAll, the new digital portal, will connect patients with independent healthcare professionals for same-day appointments, either in-person or online. The website will also have a scheduling function for adult COVID-19, flu, pneumococcal pneumonia and respiratory syncytial virus vaccinations.
In addition, patients can purchase prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications and diagnostic tests from PfizerForAll, available for pick-up at a local pharmacy or through home delivery.
Pfizer Chief U.S. Commercial Officer Aamir Malik in a statement said that the pharma’s direct-to-consumer push will help “streamline the path” for patients seeking effective treatments, who face “information overload and encounter roadblocks when making decisions for themselves of their family in our complex and often overwhelming U.S. healthcare system.”
“We are pleased to offer PfizerForAll to help relieve this burden on people,” Malik said.
According to the company, PfizerForAll aims to make medicines more accessible through affordability. The platform will help commercially insured patients find co-pay cards while also enabling eligible patients to access Pfizer’s affordability programs and other support services.
With its new consumer-facing portal, Pfizer joins fellow pharma giant Eli Lilly, which in January 2024 launched its own direct-to-consumer website LillyDirect. Like PfizerForAll, Lilly’s platform offers patients with easy access to healthcare providers and home delivery of prescription drugs.
On Tuesday, Lilly announced that it would leverage LillyDirect to offer patients single-dose vials of its popular weight-loss therapy Zepbound (tirzepatide) at a steep discount—potentially addressing both the therapy’s supply and affordability issues.
The launch of PfizerForAll comes as the pharma weathers the steep decline in COVID-19 sales. In October 2023, the company recorded its first quarterly loss since 2019, driven in large part by the 97% drop in revenues for its antiviral drug Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir), and a 70% sales reduction for the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty.
The company has struggled to regain its footing since and has continued to report disappointing quarterly results. However, in the second quarter of 2024, Pfizer seems to have finally stabilized reporting a 2% year-over-year gain in its total revenue and beating expectations. The pharma has also raised its full-year guidance.
Much of this progress was driven by its aggressive cost-cutting measures. In October 2023, the pharma rolled out a $3.5 billion savings initiative and added $500 million more to tis target in December. In May 2024, Pfizer hiked its savings target by $1.5 billion through 2027.
