Pfizer Reports Quarterly Loss Due To Charges Tied To COVID Products

According to a report by Reuters, Pfizer has reported its first quarterly loss since 2019, primarily due to significant charges totalling USD 5.6 billion linked to its COVID-19 products, which include the antiviral treatment Paxlovid and the Comirnaty vaccine.

During the quarter, sales of Paxlovid saw a steep decline of 97 per cent, amounting to USD 202 million, while vaccine revenue amounted to USD1.31 billion, a considerable drop from the USD 4.4 billion recorded in the previous year,the report stated.

For the past two years, sales of both the COVID-19 pill and the vaccine, developed in partnership with Germany's BioNTech SE, had substantially boosted Pfizer's revenue, leading to record levels.

Pfizer recently had to revise its 2023 sales forecast, reducing it by USD 9 billion, after reaching an agreement to reclaim nearly 8 million courses of Paxlovid from the U.S. government. The company also unveiled a cost-cutting initiative amounting to USD 3.5 billion in response to the declining demand for its pandemic-related products, Reuters stated.

In the third quarter, Pfizer reported a loss of 42 cents per share, in stark contrast to the profit of USD1.51 per share recorded in the same quarter the previous year.