Despite being hit with a 20% sales decline due to a plunge in demand for its COVID-19 products, Pfizer on Wednesday reported $14.88 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2024, exceeding analyst expectations.
Pfizer announced its first-quarter 2024 earnings on Wednesday, reporting a 20% year-over-year decline in revenue attributable to the steep drop in demand for its COVID-19 products.
Nevertheless, the company’s first-quarter revenue of $14.88 billion beat analysts’ consensus estimates, which were at around $14 billion. Pfizer’s net income in the quarter was nearly $3.12 billion or $0.55 per share, a 44% plunge from its net income of a little more than $5.54 billion or $0.97 per share during the same time period in 2023.
The strong performance of Pfizer’s product portfolio—excluding its COVID-19 franchise—helped the pharma exceed analyst expectations. If not for its coronavirus business, Pfizer’s revenues would have jumped 11%, according to the company.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2024, Pfizer raised its profit guidance and now expects adjusted earnings per share of $2.15 to $2.35, up from a previous estimate of $2.05 to $2.25. The pharma now also forecasts a full-year revenue range of between $58.5 billion to $61.5 billion.
Pfizer’s BMS-partnered anticoagulant Eliquis (apixaban) was its top-performing asset, generating $2.04 billion in Q1 2024, up 10% year-over-year. The company’s $43 billion Seagen acquisition, which closed in December 2023, also contributed heavily to the pharma’s financial performance in the quarter, bringing in $742 million in global legacy revenue.
The Vyndaqel (tafamidis meglumine) family of products—which includes Vyndamax (tafamidis) and Vynmac (tafamidis) and which is indicated for cardiomyopathy—also performed well in Q1, with revenues growing 66% globally to nearly $1.14 billion. Meanwhile, its oncology franchise was led by the breast cancer treatment Ibrance (palbociclib), which was hit with a 7% sales decline but still brought in more than $1.05 billion in the quarter.
Despite recording a 50% year-over-year drop in sales, Pfizer’s COVID-19 pill Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir) nevertheless earned almost $2.04 billion in Q1, suggesting a successful commercial transition in the U.S. The company’s coronavirus mRNA vaccine Comirnaty brought in $354 million in the quarter, down 88%.
CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement that he is “encouraged” by these overall results in Q1 which point to a “well-executed quarter,” allowing the company to soften the blow of the COVID-19 earnings cliff. “We intend to build on this positive momentum in the quarters ahead.”
To set the company up for sustainable growth this year, Pfizer on Wednesday also cleaned up its pipeline, announcing that four programs have been discontinued. The pharma terminated the development of VTX-801, a recombinant gene therapy being developed for Wilson disease, as well as Zavzpret (zavegepant) which it was trialing as an oral preventative treatment for migraine.
Pfizer also axed two Phase II studies for the S1P blocker Velsipity (etrasimod)—one in atopic dermatitis and the other in alopecia areata.
Tristan Manalac is an independent science writer based in Metro Manila, Philippines. Reach out to him on LinkedIn or email him at tristan@tristanmanalac.com or tristan.manalac@biospace.com.
