Pfizer: COVID-19 Vaccine Sales to Top $65 Billion Through 2022

Pfizer Inc on Tuesday said it expected this year to sell $36 billion of the COVID-19 vaccine it developed with German partner BioNTech and forecast another $29 billion in sales in 2022, topping analyst estimates for both years.

The drugmaker said it is seeking to sign more deals with countries, which could drive sales of the vaccine even higher next year. It has the capacity to produce 4 billion doses in 2022 and has based its projections on sales of 1.7 billion doses.

Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine was the first shot to receive U.S. authorization last year, and U.S. regulators are likely to give the green light to begin administering the vaccine to children ages five to 11 as soon as Wednesday.

Pfizer, which equally splits gross profit for the shot in most of the world with BioNTech, raised its revenue forecast for the vaccine to $36 billion for 2021, suggesting that the shot will account for as much as 44% of its total sales for the year.

Wall Street on average expected sales of $35.44 billion this year from the vaccine and $22.15 billion for 2022, according to eight analysts polled by Refinitiv.

Sales of the vaccine, called Comirnaty, have vastly outpaced those of rivals Moderna Inc and Johnson & Johnson , which are struggling with production snags and safety concerns.

The company is on track to deliver 2.3 billion doses of the vaccine, out of the roughly 3 billion it plans to make this year.

"The longer-term revenues that they may be able to generate from Comirnaty remains unknown and will be determined in part by how the pandemic evolves, as well as competitive dynamics within that market," said Mizuho analyst Vamil Divan.

The vaccine brought in sales of $13 billion in the third quarter.

Pfizer's shares rose 2.7% in morning trading on Tuesday. (Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru and Michael Emran in New Jersey; Editing by Anil D'Silva)