Pfizer Shifts Spending as New Products Grow and COVID Sales Shrink
New and acquired products brought in $3.2 billion globally in the second quarter, as Pfizer steers resources toward growth areas.
Pfizer is steering investment toward newer and acquired medicines after its COVID-19 sales fell, with those products generating $3.2 billion globally in the second quarter. The portfolio grew 18% year over year, following 22% growth in the first quarter, executive Alexandre de Germay said at a September 22 investor conference.
Pfizer’s COVID vaccines and antiviral medicines generated about $11 billion in 2024 and $6.7 billion in 2025. The company forecasts roughly $4 billion this year, as demand for those products recedes.
The broader business is growing, but modestly. Pfizer reported $15 billion in second-quarter revenue, up 1% operationally from a year earlier; excluding Comirnaty and Paxlovid, revenue rose 5%.
De Germay said Pfizer had spread resources too widely after buying cancer-drug maker Seagen and launching new products and vaccines. The company has since halted some launches, commercial structures and studies it judged less productive, and shifted spending toward priority markets.
In Pfizer’s international business, new and newly acquired products grew from about $500 million in 2023 to $4 billion, de Germay said. He also said productivity among international sales teams tripled over three years as Pfizer concentrated resources.
Oncology and vaccines are among the areas Pfizer sees room to expand. De Germay cited Lorbrena’s reach in lung cancer and low vaccination rates among older adults in several countries; Pfizer is also advancing obesity medicines and recently commercialized its first GLP-1 product in China.
Investors still face pressure from falling COVID sales and upcoming patent expirations. Pfizer raised the midpoint of its 2026 revenue outlook by $500 million in August, to a range of $60.5 billion to $62.5 billion, and has said it expects operational revenue growth excluding COVID and products losing exclusivity.
The test for the strategy is whether newer medicines can keep growing as those older revenue streams fade. Pfizer said it had 31 Phase III studies underway, including programs in cancer, vaccines and weight management.
This article was produced with the help of AI technology.
Source: Yahoo Finance
