Pfizer Reports Q2 2020 Revenue of $11.8 Billion, Down 9%, Driven by Strong Performance of Vyndaqel, Ibrance, and Eliquis

Compiled | newborn

On July 28 local time, Pfizer announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2020, with revenue totaling $11.801 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 9%. However, excluding the Upjohn generics division, Pfizer’s innovative biopharmaceutical business saw a 6% year-on-year increase in revenue, reaching $9.795 billion. The merger between Upjohn and Mylan is currently underway and is expected to be completed in the second half of the year. In the second quarter, Upjohn’s revenue amounted to $2.006 billion, representing a 31% year-on-year decline.

The growth of the innovative biopharmaceutical business was primarily driven by strong performance from products such as Vyndaqel for heart disease, Ibrance for breast cancer, and Eliquis, an anticoagulant co-marketed with BMS.

Vyndaqel’s second-quarter sales reached $277 million, with $145 million from the U.S. market, compared to $231 million in the first quarter, including $127 million from the U.S. market. In February this year, Vyndaqel received European Union approval for the treatment of ATTR-CM, eight years after its initial indication for ATTR-PN was approved. Vyndaqel’s success hinges on disease awareness for ATTR-CM; in the second quarter, the diagnosis rate in the United States rose to approximately 16%, a significant increase from the 1–2% rate observed before the FDA’s approval of the drug last May.

Despite a 10% decline in European sales due to pricing pressures, Ibrance’s second-quarter sales still grew by 9%, reaching $1.35 billion. Recently, the drug suffered a setback in the Phase III PALLAS trial, as its combination with standard postoperative endocrine therapy failed to prolong the time to invasive disease recurrence in patients with HR+/HER2- early breast cancer. However, recently released real-world data has bolstered Ibrance’s position, showing that in patients with HER2- metastatic breast cancer, the median overall survival was 19.1 months when combined with an aromatase inhibitor, compared to 11.9 months with an aromatase inhibitor alone. In late June, a report published by Evaluate Pharma predicted that Ibrance’s sales would reach $9.683 billion in 2026, making it the sixth best-selling drug globally.

Sales of the pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar 13 declined by 2% to $1.12 billion, primarily due to a substantial 22% drop in the U.S. market driven by the pandemic impact, which was not sufficiently offset by an 18% growth in international markets during the same period. In international markets, the growth was mainly attributable to a significant increase in adult vaccination volumes in Germany and continued strong uptake among the pediatric population in China. Currently, Pfizer is working to maintain its dominant position in the pneumococcal vaccine market to counter potential threats from Merck & Co. Although Pfizer’s investigational 20-valent vaccine (20vPnC) is progressing alongside Merck’s 15-valent vaccine (V114) in adult clinical development, it lags behind by approximately one year in the pediatric segment. Just one month ago, Pfizer advanced 20vPnC into two Phase III pediatric studies.

Regarding vaccines, Pfizer is collaborating with BioNTech to develop the COVID-19 vaccine BNT162b2. The two parties have just announced that BNT162b2 will be advanced into Phase II/III clinical trials. Data from Phase I/II clinical trials show that BNT162b2 is well-tolerated, induces neutralizing antibody concentrations higher than those found in serum from convalescent COVID-19 patients following a two-dose regimen, and elicits CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses. The Phase II/III trial is expected to enroll 30,000 participants. If successful, Pfizer and BioNTech aim to seek Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) as early as October. Once this regulatory hurdle is cleared, the companies plan to supply up to 100 million doses globally this year and potentially 1.6 billion doses next year. Last Tuesday, Pfizer signed an agreement with the U.S. government for the delivery of 100 million doses worth $1.95 billion.

Reference Sources:

1、PFIZER REPORTS SECOND-QUARTER 2020 RESULTS

2、Vyndaqel, Ibrance boost Pfizer as it eyes COVID-19 vaccine launch this year