Pfizer Inc has said it expects to generate about $15 billion (€12.4 billion) in sales this year from the Covid-19 vaccine that it developed with German partner BioNTech.
The drugmaker is trying to deliver two billion doses of the vaccine in 2021 at a breakneck pace as countries rush to sign supply deals in an effort to control a pandemic that has killed over 2 million people globally.
In the fourth quarter, the vaccine brought in sales of $154 million (€127.9 million) and the company now expects full-year adjusted earnings of $3.10 to $3.20 per share, up from its prior forecast of $3 to $3.10 per share.
Excluding items, Pfizer earned 42 cents per share, but missed market expectation of 48 cents per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Pfizer has now supplied 65 million doses of the vaccine globally, with the company announcing on Monday that it would deliver 75 million extra doses to the EU in the second quarter of the year.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was the first shot to get approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA), subsequently followed by Moderna and AstraZeneca.
The Pfizer shot, which need to be stored at ultra-low temperatures, has been key in the first stages of vaccination programmes around the world, being administered to older people and frontline workers in healthcare settings.
Since the first Pfizer/BioNTech jab was given on December 29th of last year, 150,500 first doses and 49,300 second doses have been administered in Ireland, between the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
Earlier today, the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly confirmed the first shipment of the AstraZeneca vaccine would arrive in Ireland next week.
