Pfizer, Moderna shares under pressure as COVID-19 vaccine sales fade

afr.com:

Washington | The two pharmaceutical giants behind the lion’s share of the world’s COVID-19 vaccines have sold more than $US117 billion ($183 billion) worth of the drugs since their first big deliveries in 2021, but face a revenue cliff as the pandemic fades into history.

Between deliveries in early 2021 to the end of June this year, Pfizer booked $US79 billion and Moderna $US38 billion from their vaccines Comirnaty and Spikevax, respectively. About 75 per cent of these total sales were to countries outside the US.

US President Joe Biden receives a booster dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine. Bloomberg

Government spending on the vaccines, which at times were controversially mandated to the public, is just a fraction of the total cost of the pandemic, estimated by International Monetary Fund at the $US12.5 trillion. This covers millions of deaths, broken economies and record debt levels.

While the World Health Organisation said earlier this month it was monitoring a new strain of COVID-19 called Eris, which accounts for a growing share of new cases in countries such as China and the United States, overall case numbers have declined sharply.

US president Joe Biden declared the “pandemic over” late last year, although he said the virus was still “a problem”.

In May, the Biden Administration dropped mandates for vaccines across federal government employees. Tourists and immigration applicants no longer need to show proof of being fully vaccinated with an accepted COVID-19 vaccine to board a flight to the United States. Vaccine mandates have been relaxed by colleges, local and state governments, and private companies.

As a result, Pfizer and Moderna, along with market analysts, expect a big drop in sales this financial and