(Reuters) -Pfizer Inc said on Monday annual revenue from its mRNA vaccine portfolio could reach $10 billion to $15 billion by 2030, alleviating fears of a sharp hit to its topline from an expected decline in COVID vaccine demand and patent expirations.
Shares of the New York City-based company rose nearly 2% to $52.59 during afternoon trade and helped lift U.S. stock indexes higher.
The company’s revenue is expected to top $100 billion this year- more than double the pre-pandemic level – helped by strong demand for its COVID-19 vaccine and oral treatment Paxlovid.
In November, Pfizer had raised its forecast for 2022 sales of its COVID-19 vaccine by $2 billion to $34 billion.
But COVID-related sales are expected to drop sharply over the next few years, and Pfizer also faces the loss of patent protections for some big-selling drugs after 2025, such as cancer treatment Ibrance and arthritis drug Xeljanz.
Pfizer expects to lose $17 billion in annual sales between 2025 and 2030 due to the patent expirations, Chief Commercial Officer Angela Hwang said in an investor presentation, where the company provided revenue expectations for its drugs and vaccines.
The company has been investing heavily into its mRNA pipeline and said the manufacturing capacity for Comirnaty, its COVID-19 vaccine developed with German partner BioNTech SE, leaves it uniquely positioned to deliver other mRNA shots globally.
Analysts expect COVID-19 vaccine revenues to drop sharply beginning in 2023 and see sales of Pfizer’s Comirnaty at around $6.7 billion in 2027, according to Refinitiv.
Pfizer did not provide a breakdown of sales expectations from different mRNA vaccine, but said sales from its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine candidate, to be launched in 2023, could peak in 2027 and reach more than $2 billion.
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru and Michael Erman in New Jersey; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
