Shares of Pfizer (PFE) skyrocketed in pre-market trading hours after the company reported positive earnings and COVID-19 shot sales surge. The company’s revenue surpassed Wall Street’s estimates.
In 2021, the drugmaker expects $26 billion in vaccine revenue, up from $15 billion last year, and adjusted earnings per share of $3.55 to $3.65, up from $3.10 to $3.20 previously. Pfizer said it plans to supply 1.6 billion Covid shot doses this year, based on contracts signed as of mid-April, and will be able to manufacture at least 3 billion doses by 2022.
The two-shot regimen is one of three vaccines approved for emergency use in the United States. According to Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla, the firm plans to obtain full approval for the shot this month and may hear from authorities shortly about extending the vaccine’s use in teenagers. Bourla believes the commodity will be in demand for a long time.
CEO Bourla also stated that the company is testing a next generation shot of the existing formulation of its Covid-19 shot to determine whether a booster provides protection against SARS-CoV-2 virus variants currently in circulation.
The company has started to evaluate an updated formulation that encodes the spike protein of the variant first identified in South Africa. “This study is designed to establish a regulatory pathway to update the current vaccine to address any future variant of potential concern in approximately 100 days,” Bourla said.
