Pfizer accused of Covid profiteering as first-quarter sales hit $26bn

theguardian.com:

Pfizer has made nearly $26bn (£21bn) in revenues in the first three months of the year, the bulk from its Covid-19 vaccine and new pill to treat the virus, prompting fresh accusations of pandemic profiteering.

Covid vaccines have saved many lives around the world and relieved the pressure on health systems, but Pfizer has faced criticism over its vaccine pricing and its refusal to waive patent protection to enable others to make the jab.

Last week 35 campaigners from Global Justice Now, Act-Up London, Just Treatment and Stop Aids protested against what they call pandemic profiteering, and delivered wheelbarrows full of fake money to Pfizer’s UK headquarters in Surrey on the day of the company’s annual shareholder meeting.

The New York-based firm posted total sales of $25.7bn in the first quarter, up 77% from a year earlier. Of this, $13.2bn came from the Comirnaty jab it developed with Germany’s BioNTech, driven by global uptake including jabs for children over the age of five, and booster doses. Pfizer and BioNTech are also seeking US approval for children from six months to four years old.

A further $1.5bn came from Paxlovid, a Covid pill for people who are at high risk of severe disease, including hospitalisation or death. The treatment received emergency approval from the US regulator in late December and has also been cleared by the UK and the EU.

Pfizer has made tens of billions of dollars during the pandemic from its Covid-related products, as has the Boston-based biotech firm Moderna, which was loss-making until it started selling a Covid-19 vaccine.

Tim Bierley, a pharma campaigner at Global Justice Now, said: “Throughout the pandemic, Pfizer has refused to share its technology and knowhow. Instead, it has maintained