Pfizer Posts $2.38 Billion Q3 Loss Amid Sharp Drop in Covid Vaccine and Paxlovid Revenue

Weakening demand for Covid products prompts a $3.5 billion cost-cutting plan, while sales of non-Covid drugs see a 10% growth despite Q3 losses.

Pfizer reported a Q3 loss of $2.38 billion, prompted by a large drop in revenue from two key Covid products: the Covid vaccine Comirnaty and the antiviral treatment Paxlovid. The Covid vaccine's sales plummeted 70% while Paxlovid's revenue decreased by 97%.
The company was forced to write off $5.6 billion for inventory due to lower-than-expected use of Covid products. From these write-offs, $4.7 billion was attributed to Paxlovid and $900 million to the vaccine.
Transitioning from government to commercial sales for its Covid products, Pfizer announced a $3.5 billion cost-cutting plan aimed at mitigating the impact of weaker demand for these products.
Despite the losses, Pfizer experienced a 10% growth in sales of non-Covid drugs in Q3, including the vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (Abrysvo), the migraine drug Nurtec ODT, and the sickle cell disease treatment Oxbryta.
Beyond sales, Pfizer aims to focus investors' attention on growth opportunities such as mergers and acquisitions, including Pfizer's $43 billion acquisition of cancer therapy maker Seagen.