On Tuesday (February 2), Pharmaceutical firm Pfizer Inc came out with forecast sales of about $15 billion (1 lakh 94,000 crore rupees) from the coronavirus vaccine that it is making along with German partner BioNTech and raised its full-year profit forecast. The company said the total sales in the year are expected to be between $59.4 billion and $61.4 billion.
The vaccine was among the first to be authorized for emergency use in the United States and several other countries, and analysts have forecast billions in sales.
Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said earlier this month that earnings would top out at $3.10 a share. Pfizer said the guidance was raised primarily because of vaccine revenue.
In the fourth quarter, the vaccine brought in sales of $154 million, below expectations of $462 million, according to consensus estimates compiled by brokerage Mizuho.
Pfizer is commanding a higher price for its vaccine than some rivals. Under the terms of its supply deal with the US, it is charging $19.50 for each shot of the two-dose regimen. Rival AstraZeneca Plc, which hasn't yet gained authorization for its vaccine in the US, has said it plans to charge less than $4 per dose, as per Bloomberg.
Pfizer Inc's forecast comes two days after the EU's medicines regulator said that Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus jab has no link to reported post-vaccination deaths and no new side effects.
The European Medicines Agency said it had looked at the deaths, including a number in the elderly and "concluded that the data did not show a link to vaccination with Comirnaty (the vaccine) and the cases do not raise a safety concern."
A number of countries, including Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden, have reported deaths of people who had been given the Pfizer-BioNTech jab but no direct links to the vaccine have been established.
Norway in particular registered 33 deaths among elderly people who had received their first dose.
Oslo said earlier this month it had not established a link but recommended doctors consider the overall health of the frailest before giving them the jab.