Daily Management Review

Pfizer Looks At Big Steps By 2022 In New Drugs Approvals


10/30/2018




Pfizer Inc., the drug giant, is expecting big things by 2022 – approvals for between 25 and 30 new drug. The list includes a number of potential blockbusters drugs which the company is hoping would get regulatory approval by 2020.
 
Getting these approvals would be critical for Pfizer because in the next few years, the company is set to lose out on its exclusivity on patents of a number of valuable drugs. 
 
One of the drugs that the company is eagerly looking out for in the near future to get approval is tafamidis, which is aimed to tackle the rare, fatal disease of transthyretin cardiomyopathy, and analysts believe that this drug has the promise of generating revenues of $1 billion in sales. Earlier this year, Pfizer reported positive results for this drug in a late-stage trial which pushed the company shares.
 
Another drug that could prove to be a major market opportunity for the copany is the non-opioid pain medication tanezumb, be co=developed with Eli Lilly & Co. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst John Boris said that Tanezumab is a “high-risk/high-reward clinical asset,” because there are concerns about the safety of the drug.
 
Boris said that the future of the company could be further augmented by three U.S. approvals for cancer drugs that the company managed to get in the second half of the year. The company expects two more drug approvals on cancer soon enough.
 
“We believe that Pfizer will be able to bring a steady stream of new products to market through internal drug development, supplemented by acquisitions,” said Edward Jones analyst Ashtyn Evans.
 
Meanwhile, the drug maker also beat earnings expectations of the Wall Street for the third quarter but fell slightly short in terms of revenue. The company also dropped its forecast for the full year. This resulted in the shares of the company dropping by about 4 percent in pre-market trading.
 
The nest income reported by the company in the period was $4.11 billion, or 69 cents per share, which was more than that for the same period a year ago when it was $2.84 billion, or 47 cents per share. This was one a 1 percent rise in net sales rose at $13.3 billion which was short of the market expectations of $13.53 billion.
 
The company also dropped its revenues forecast for the full year to between $53 billion and $53.7 billion compared to its previous estimate of between $53 billion to $55 billion. Weakening currency in some emerging markets and the euro beginning this summer and shortages of its Hospira Sterile Injectable Pharmaceuticals product in the U.S. were the main reasons for the changes made by the company in full year revenues, Pfizer said.
 
Earlier this month, Pfizer announced CEO Ian Read will retire and Albert Bourla will take over in January.
"Albert's extensive knowledge of our business, firm grasp of the issues, and deep caring for patients will help Pfizer continue to build on the outstanding foundation we have put in place," said company CEO Ian Read in a statement.
 
"I am confident that he is implementing a structure and building a leadership team that will maximize the company's growth opportunities."
 
(Source:www.marketwatch.com & www.cnbc.com)