In particular, the company’s breast cancer drug Ibrance missed sales expectations.
Pfizer reported its fourth quarter and full-year 2019 financial results today, with overall revenues down 9% for the quarter and 4% for the full year.
The quarterly revenue for 2019 was $12.688 billion, down 9% from $13.976 billion the same period the year before. Full-year revenues were $51.750 billion, down 4% from $53.647 the previous year.
In particular, the company’s breast cancer drug Ibrance missed sales expectations. Ibrance sales rose 13.2% to $1.28 billion in the fourth quarter, but the consensus sales projection was $1.35 billion. Part of the reason was related to strong competition for its pain drug Lyrica, which lost patent protect last year.
The company also missed earnings per share (EPS) expectations of 58 cents, hitting only 55 cents.
For Pfizer, 2019 was a year filled with change. Albert Bourla took over from Ian Read as chairman and chief executive officer. It formed a consumer health joint venture with GlaxoSmithKline, and, Bourla said, “We also announced a definitive agreement to combine Upjohn and Mylan to create a new global pharmaceutical company, Viatris, marking an important milestone in Pfizer’s evolution toward becoming a more focused, global leader in innovative medicine.”
As is often the case with biopharma annual reports, the pipeline update had a few surprises. It trimmed out a number of clinical trials with Bavencio, which it has partnered with Merck for cancer. It killed off two experimental clinical trials, the Phase I PF-06688992 in cancer and its Phase I PF-04447943 for sickle cell disease.
Bourla, not surprisingly, touted optimistic expectations for 2020, dubbing it the New Pfizer, which “will be a smaller, science-based company with a singular focus on innovation while also continuing to allocate significant capital directly to shareholders, primarily through dividends.”
In terms of expected clinical data readouts, Bourla mentioned expected topline data for the JADE Compare study of abrocitinib, their JAK21 inhibitor for atopic dermatitis, three Phase III trials of its 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine candidate, and Xeljanz in ankylosing spondylitis. It also will have data from its Phase II ANCHOR trial of the combination of Brakftovi, Mektovi and cetuximab for first-line treatment of BRAFV600E-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer.
Bourla said, “We also expect data in the first half of 2020 for promising earlier-stage opportunities, including proof-of-concept readouts for PF-06939926, our mini-dystrophin gene therapy candidate for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, for PF-06928316, our prophylactic vaccine candidate for the prevention of respiratory syncytial virus infection, and for PF-06700841, an investigational topical TYK2/JAK1 dual inhibitor for psoriasis and AD.”
And that’s just for the first half of the year.
The second half of the year will have topline data from the Phase III PENELOPE-B trial of Ibrance in early-stage breast cancer, and proof-of-concepts readouts for its JAK3/TEC inhibitor for vitiligo, for PF-06700841 for psoriatic arthritis, and for PF—06826647, a TYK2 inhibitor for psoriasis, as well as others.
For the 2020 guidance, Frank D’Amelio, chief financial officer and executive vice president, Business Operations and Global Supply, said, “The midpoint of the revenue guidance range for New Pfizer implies 8% operational growth and reflects anticipated continued strong growth from certain in-line brands such as Ibrance, Eliquis, Xeljanz, Xtandi and Inlyta, from recent and expected product launches such as Vyndaqel/Vyndamax, Braftovi, Mektovi and oncology biosimilars as well as from emerging markets.”
The midpoint revenue guidance for Upjohn showed a projected 23% operational decline, largely because of China markets.
