Pfizer expects $15B from COVID vaccine sales in 2021

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer expects $15 billion from COVID-19 vaccine sales this year, according to its financial results statement released on Tuesday.

Revenue from its vaccine named BNT162b2, which it developed in partnership with Germany's BioNTech, mostly includes doses expected to be delivered in 2021 under existing contracts, and it may be adjusted in future as additional contracts are executed, it said.

In December, the pharmas announced a second agreement with the US government to supply an additional 100 million doses by July 31, for which they will receive another $1.95 billion.

The agreement doubles the number of doses the companies have to deliver to the US market as part of former president Donald Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed. It is a public–private partnership to facilitate and accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.

Pfizer reported a net income of $594 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, a significant recovery from a net loss of $337 million recorded in the same period of the previous year. Total revenue increased by 12% to $11.7 billion from $10.4 billion.

For the entire financial year of 2020, revenue was up by 1.7% to $41.9 billion, from $41.2 billion in 2019. Net income; however, plummeted by 41.1% to $9.6 billion from $16.3 billion year-over-year.

Pfizer's stock price was slightly up by 0.05% during pre-market hours on the New York Stock Exchange at 8.00 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT), with a market value of almost $200 billion.