Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla defended his company’s vaccine business as rhetoric from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. drives a notable drop in COVID-19 sales.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla will not be deterred by recent policy changes from HHS that are undermining public confidence in vaccines. “I can assure you we are not going back to Louis Pasteur times,” Bourla said on a guidance call with investors Tuesday morning.
He labeled recent rhetoric from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the agencies he oversees as “an anomaly” that he hopes will soon be corrected. As just one example, FDA regulator Vinay Prasad has blamed 10 child deaths on COVID-19 vaccines—without evidence—and late last week rumors circulated that the FDA would slap a black box warning on those shots, though the agency this morning denied those claims.
“I think those comments, they don’t have merit, and that will not change the way that we are looking at our long-term investments on vaccines. We will continue investing on vaccines,” Bourla said. He continued: “As I said, this an anomaly that will correct itself. I hope pretty soon.”
Bourla’s comments came as Pfizer reported a significant decline in its COVID-19 franchise in the waning years following the global pandemic. The New York pharma is expecting a leaner year overall in 2026, with guidance topping out at $62.5 billion in revenue, missing analyst consensus.
Pfizer’s shares fell about 4.8% Tuesday morning to $25.17, compared to $26.43 at close the day prior.
But Bourla remained positive. This recent anti-vaccine push is “mostly driven politically,” he said, “and when [the] political situation allows that I think [it] will be resolved.”
Pfizer Sees Lean Year Ahead
Analysts called Pfizer’s 2026 guidance announcement “conservative,” in a collection of Tuesday morning notes. The company now expects revenue of $59.5 billion to $62.5 billion for 2026, compared with consensus of $61 billion to $61.6 billion, according to BMO Capital Markets. BMO called the updated guidance a 1% miss, but Leerink Partners put it at 5%.
Pfizer’s COVID-19 franchise is expected to decline 23% year over year to about $5 billion in 2026. Pfizer is expecting $6.5 billion for 2025. CFO Dave Denton said that the company’s Paxlovid franchise remains volatile, while Comirnaty sales fluctuate with the season.
But Bourla promised that recent acquisitions and other pipeline additions have teed up growth for the company in 2029 and 2030, even in the face of billions in patent losses.
Pfizer has about $1.5 billion in loss of exclusivities on key products heading into next year, according to Denton. That value will double in 2027 and again in 2028. Pfizer will lean on investments being made now, including internally developed assets, acquired companies like obesity treatment manufacturer Metsera and other research and development deals.
“Once ’28 is behind us, the vast majority of those LOEs are done, and the growth drivers that we invest in over the next several years will be maintained, that should allow us to begin to accelerate the top line,” Denton said.
Even so, Bourla said that the company has taken actions over the past year, including the Metsera acquisition, to lower the business’ exposure to Kennedy’s rhetoric and policies coming out of HHS.
He pointed to the significant pushback from American organizations like those representing pediatricians, obstetricians, cardiologists pneumologists and more. The World Health Organization has even rejected recent vaccine policy coming out of the U.S., Bourla said.
“They are extremely, extremely upset, and they keep issuing statements that they are contradicting recommendations that are happening from CDC,” Bourla said. “Let’s not forget that CDC used to be the most reliable and credible organization in the world that everybody was looking up at.” Now that reputation has been tarnished, Bourla concluded.
While the damage so far has largely focused on the company’s COVID franchise, Bourla explained that the effects of Kennedy’s reign at HHS could spread to other parts of the business.
“What is worrisome is that science is replaced with political beliefs,” he said.
