Washington — Pfizer was the pride of the pharmaceutical industry two years ago, with annual sales exceeding $100 billion from its COVID-19 vaccine and antiviral Paxlovid.
Today, CEO Albert Bourla is attempting to turn the page on that success story, which has become more of a financial problem for the global drugmaker.
Pfizer’s stock price has fallen to nearly half its peak during the pandemic, as high hopes for further vaccine and antiviral sales have fallen short. Bourla has responded with a $3.5 billion cost-cutting plan that includes layoffs and additional investments in cancer and obesity treatments.
The shift has been complex. Pfizer’s shares fell again in December after the company announced that it would discontinue its twice-a-day formulation of an obesity drug due to an unacceptably high rate of adverse effects. The company is still looking into a once-a-day version.
Pfizer CEO On Moving Beyond COVID Vaccines To Become A Leader In Cancer And Obesity Treatments
Bourla spoke with The Associated Press about the company’s COVID-19 business and his plans to grow beyond it. The transcript was edited for length and clarity.
The two drugs you named will remain highly significant for Pfizer if COVID-19 persists. In the opinion of most people, those items will continue to provide the best option.
They will be smaller than we anticipated last year, when we forecasted over $20 billion in revenue. In reality, they were closer to $10 billion. However, the difference was not due to a miscalculation of the COVID-19 epidemiology; rather, it came out exactly as expected. However, several government contracts with us have been challenged. Even if they had no legal merit, we felt it was wrong to sue governments. So we decided to settle for that.
Seagen is the market leader in a novel technology known as ADC (antibody-drug conjugate). Let me try to describe them in military terms. Cancer is the adversary. In the past, we fought this sickness using methods similar to those used during WWII. So, the Allies would bomb the entire area, aiming to hit the most crucial sites.
This was how chemotherapy worked. We administer chemotherapy into the body, which attacks cancer cells while also harming healthy cells. The ADCs resemble modern combat, with GPS-guided missiles. They have a system called an antibody that is programmed to recognize and bind to cancer cells among the billions of cells in our bodies. The medicine just goes to them, with the medicine acting as the warhead on the missile’s tip.
With Seagen, we could obtain not one, but four goods already on the market; 13 clinical studies that will hopefully become products; a set of patents and intellectual property; and, of course, a group of thousands of highly experienced scientists.
Pfizer CEO On Moving Beyond COVID Vaccines To Become A Leader In Cancer And Obesity Treatments
Of course, everyone wants to lose weight, but many individuals will take a pill if given the opportunity. It remains to be seen, but based on the evidence from our Phase 2 studies, we expect good tolerance and efficacy. It’s worth noting that danuglipron has been examined in over 1,400 patients worldwide, so we know much about the molecule. And now we’re working on developing the once-a-day pill.
SOURCE | AP
