US DRUGMAKER Pfizer yesterday reported that revenue more than halved during the second quarter of the year as global demand for its Covid-19 vaccines plummeted.

It reported disappointing revenues of $12.7bn (£9.9bn) in the three months to June - down 54 per cent, or $15bn, from the second quarter last year.

Pfizer blamed the results, which didn't quite meet analyst expectations of $13.3bn, on waning demand for its Covid-19 vaccines.

Revenues for Comirnaty and Paxlovid respectively fell 98 per cent and 82 per cent, compared with the second quarter in 2022.

David Denton, CFO and executive VP, said the company believes it is "well positioned for accelerated growth of our Covid products in the second half of 2023".

He added: "The Covid environment continues to evolve rapidly and remains highly unpredictable."

It's a tough pill to swallow for the once-dominant coronavirus vaccine maker, who also said it will wait one more quarter before launching a costcutting programme if its Covid treatments keep underperforming.

Astrazeneca has also suffered from falling sales of Covid medicines, although it reported that an uptick in oncology treatments offset this decline last week. The poor sales performance comes as it plans to strike a $43bn deal to buy global biotech company Seagen, which develops cancer medicines, and is currently in discussions with international regulators. The acquisition is expected to close in late 2023 to early 2024.

(c) 2023 City A.M., source Newspaper