Pfizer raises annual profit forecast after better-than-expected COVID sales By Reuters

(Reuters) – U.S. drugmaker Pfizer (NYSE:) raised its annual profit forecast on Tuesday after posting better-than-expected sales for its COVID vaccine and antiviral treatment.

New Jersey-based Pfizer now expects annual profit to be in the range of $2.45 to $2.65 per share, compared with its prior profit forecast of $2.15 to $2.35 per share.

With the pandemic becoming less severe, the market for pharmaceutical products used in managing COVID-19 has quickly disappeared, eroding billions of dollars in sales of vaccines and treatments for companies such as Pfizer.

Pfizer said it was now expecting full-year revenue of $8.5 billion from its Comirnaty and Paxlovid vaccines, up from its previous expectation of about $8 billion.

After the company’s COVID windfall, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla spent $43 billion to buy cancer drugmaker Seagen. The company has also cut costs and launched an internal restructuring to tighten its focus on cancer drugs.

Its shares have nearly halved since their pandemic-era highs. Shares rose 3.5% at $31.6 in premarket trading.