Sales of assets from Seagen and Biohaven grew in the third quarter, but it wasn’t enough for Pfizer to overcome declines across the Prevnar and COVID franchises.
While Pfizer’s revenue did not rise in the third quarter, the New York pharma pointed to rising sales of launched and acquired products as evidence of a sustained effort to drive longer-term growth.
The company reported revenue of $16.6 billion, compared to $16.7 billion for the same period a year ago, according to a Tuesday release. Without including its COVID products, which have been on the decline post-pandemic, Pfizer’s revenue grew 7% operationally, the company reported.
“This quarter, our non-COVID products delivered strong 7% operational revenue growth, and I’m particularly pleased with the 32% year-over-year operational revenue growth from our launched and acquired products,” said Cecile Guegan, who was introduced as Pfizer’s new CFO on Tuesday morning.
Analysts were similarly optimistic, with Guggenheim calling the third quarter performance solid since revenue beat expectations of $16.15 billion.
“Beyond the quarterly results, the main focus for investors on the Pfizer story is the evolution of the company’s pipeline, which we believe remains underappreciated,” Guggenheim wrote on Tuesday morning.
The acquired products that contributed heavily to the quarter include those from Seagen, Metsera and Biohaven. Products from antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) specialist Seagen, acquired in a 2023 deal valued at $43 billion, grew 39% year over year, Pfizer reported. Key product Padcev brought in $255 million globally, a 55% increase. Pfizer attributed this to increased market share in first-line locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer and a launch in muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
Metsera, on the other hand, has yet to contribute to earnings with no approved products, but Pfizer noted that 10 pivotal studies have been advanced so far this year for lead asset berobenatide.
Migraine drug Nurtec, from the 2022 Biohaven acquisition, achieved 33% revenue growth year over year for $135 million in the quarter.
Pfizer’s own Eliquis, a key product nearing its patent cliff, grew 25% for $513 million.
But the COVID portfolio dragged on earnings, as expected. For COVID, Paxlovid declined by $771 million, or 63%, as infections slowed in the U.S. and globally. BioNTech-partnered vaccine Comirnaty fell $339 million, or 29%.
Despite the drops, both products were “modest contributors” to Pfizer’s overall 5% topline beat, BMO Capital Markets said in a Tuesday morning note, outperforming consensus estimates by 1% and 22%, respectively.
Pneumococcal vaccine family Prevnar also saw steep declines of $180 million, or 10%, as vaccination rates in the U.S. dropped and competitors loomed.
CEO Albert Bourla, who will speak to investors on a 10 a.m. ET earnings call, promised in the release that Pfizer has growth ahead, particularly in obesity, oncology, immunology and vaccines.
Further underscoring Bourla’s confidence, Pfizer has raised its full year revenue by $1.5 billion, with the revenue range now $62–64 billion. This is up from $60.5–$62.5 billion previously, per BMO.
