Pharmaceutical companies expect huge drop in revenue as post-COVID sales plummet

Pharmaceutical companies are expected to bring in far less revenue this year after two years of success selling COVID vaccines and treatments as the pandemic winds down.

Pfizer brought in the most money by far off of the pandemic of any of the pharmaceutical companies, with a total of $56.74 billion in revenue from its BioNTech vaccine and antiviral treatment in 2022 alone, according to Reuters on Monday.

Moderna came in second to Pfizer with $18.4 billion in revenue last year from its vaccine.

Sales may fall by nearly two-thirds this year due to inventories being built up around the world and higher immunity rates, according to company and analyst estimates.

"When you think about traditional drug and vaccine development and longevity of sales, it's usually much more spread out," Morningstar analyst Damien Conover told the wire service. "This is very, very concentrated."

Pfizer said it expects COVID revenue to drop to about $21.5 billion in 2023, but some experts think the prediction may be too optimistic.

"We remain skeptical that COVID revenues will grow in 2024 and beyond," JP Morgan analyst Chris Schott said.

Moderna is similarly bracing for lowered revenues in 2023 as experts expect it to drop to about $7 billion this year.