Pfizer made headlines last month when its chief financial officer said the company wanted to increase COVID-19 vaccine prices after the pandemic subsided. The company doubles this stance, and now believes the annual vaccinations are “increasingly likely.”
If you add these two things together, you get a solid income stream in the long run.
Speaking at a recent virtual investor conference (PDF) hosted by Barclays, Pfizer CFO Frank D’Amelio said the company sees a “big chance” for its COVID-19 vaccine once the market of a ‘pandemic situation’ turns into an endemic situation.
At the moment, the market is “clearly not driven by what I would call normal market conditions,” D’Amelio explained during the virtual event to Carter Gould, an analyst at Barclays. Instead, it is ‘driven by the kind of pandemic we are in and the needs of governments to really ensure doses from the various vaccine providers.’
Ultimately, Pfizer expects ‘normal market forces to start leaping’, D’Amelio said.
At that point, factors such as efficacy, enhancement, clinical utility will basically become very important, and we consider it, frankly, an important opportunity for our vaccine from a demand perspective, from a price perspective, given the clinical profile of vaccine, D’Amelio told the analyst.
RELATED: What Do You Need to Deliver COVID-19 Vaccines Around the World? Here’s how the top players work it out
In addition, Pfizer believes that even after the current crisis, there will be a demand for shots. Referring to varying concerns, Pfizer believes it is “increasingly likely that an annual vaccination will take place” and that the revaccinations will be necessary “in the foreseeable future,” the chief financial officer said.
Pfizer said it expects revenue of $ 15 billion from the mRNA vaccine this year, and that number could grow as the company negotiates new supply deals. D’Amelio said at the Barclays event that his company expects a tax return of about 25% on the figure of $ 15 billion, or about $ 3.75 billion. The chief financial officer said earlier that he expects the margins for the vaccine to grow over time.
On the manufacturing front, Pfizer and BioNTech have made several upgrades to their supply chains and plan to produce 2 billion doses this year. The company is working to improve the number as well, D’Amelio said.
RELATED: Pfizer sees higher prices for COVID-19 vaccine in sight after pandemic subsides: ex, analyst
In the wake of AstraZeneca’s recent shortage of supply in Europe, Pfizer and BioNTech expect to deliver 200 million doses in the second quarter. Pfizer also expects to ship 300 million doses to the US during the first half of the year.
Apart from the COVID-19 vaccine work, Pfizer sees the opportunity to improve current flu vaccines with mRNA technology, as well as to grow the market with a higher efficiency product, D’Amelio said during the event.