Pfizer Third Quarter Sees Multiple Pipeline Advances

Pfizer’s third quarter 2022 reflected its continued solid financial performance and operational progress, as the company continued to advance its research and development pipeline with positive results reported across several pivotal trials and delivered growth across several key brands.

The company reported revenues of $22.6 billion for the third quarter of 2022, reflecting a 2 percent operational decline. This decline was due to notably strong growth achieved in the prior-year quarter. Quarterly reported diluted earnings per share (EPS) was $1.51, reflecting 6 percent growth compared to the prior year quarter. Quarterly adjusted diluted EPS^[1] was $1.78, reflecting 40 percent growth compared to the prior year quarter. The company also raised the lower end of its full-year 2022 revenue guidance range, while raising and narrowing its adjusted diluted EPS guidance range.^[2]

Pfizer continues to reinvest capital in future growth initiatives. This includes investments in its R&D pipeline as well as ongoing business development transactions. In October, the company completed its acquisitions of Biohaven Pharmaceuticals and Global Blood Therapeutics. The company’s ongoing capital allocation to business development is designed to drive significant value for Pfizer patients and shareholders alike.

For more details, read Pfizer’s third quarter 2022 earnings release.

Delivering Scientific Breakthroughs

This is an exciting time for Pfizer, as the company continues to seek to address diseases in novel ways to discover and develop new transformative medicines and vaccines. The quarter marked notable late-stage milestones in Pfizer’s pipeline with positive pivotal data readouts for several exciting pipeline programs, many of which have blockbuster potential:

• Prevnar 20, the company’s 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, that reported positive top-line results from its pivotal U.S. and EU Phase 3 studies in infants, building on the vaccine’s strong launch in adults;
• Positive top-line results from the Phase 3 clinical trial for respiratory syncytial virus in older adults and for infants through maternal vaccination with its RSVpreF vaccine candidate;
• Positive top-line results from its pivotal Phase 3 trial for its pentavalent meningococcal vaccine candidate in adolescents and young adults;
• Statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements reported in its top-line results from its Phase 3 study of a combination treatment regimen in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer; and
• Initiation of a Phase 3 clinical study for its Lyme disease vaccine candidate VLA15 and a Phase 3 trial for its mRNA influenza vaccine candidate.

“Over the next 18 months, we expect to have up to 19 new products or indications in the market – including the five for which we have already begun co-promotion or commercialization earlier this year. Many of these 19 programs are already largely de-risked from a clinical perspective, the majority were discovered in-house, and nearly all would be for indications outside of COVID-19. If approved, we expect each of these to be key contributors to our growth aspirations through 2025 and beyond,” said Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Leading the Fight against COVID-19

Several positive developments reaffirmed Pfizer’s ongoing leadership in the fight against COVID-19.

Most notably, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization (EUA) of an Omicron-adapted bivalent booster vaccine, which also has been authorized by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and several other regulatory bodies.

In September 2022, Pfizer agreed to supply at a not-for-profit price up to six million treatment courses of Paxlovid to the Global Fund for low- and lower-middle income countries as part of the company’s commitment to providing equitable access to COVID-19 oral treatments.

Returning Value to Shareholders

Pfizer continued its plans to deploy capital to fuel future growth and return capital directly to shareholders.

Through the end of the third quarter, the company re-invested $7.8 billion in internal R&D projects and approximately $8 billion in completed business development transactions, including for the acquisitions of Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and ReViral Ltd. Additionally, $6.7 billion of cash dividends was returned to shareholders in the first nine months of 2022 and $2 billion was used to repurchase shares in March 2022.

“Since we last reported our earnings, we completed the acquisitions of Biohaven and Global Blood Therapeutics, each of which bring significant scientific breakthroughs to Pfizer and which present opportunities where we believe we can add great value,” said Pfizer Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, David Denton. “I look forward to continuing to execute on Pfizer’s strategies to deliver breakthroughs to patients and value to shareholders.”

Please see below for earnings highlights and visit Pfizer’s Investor’s site for more information.

[1] Adjusted income and Adjusted diluted EPS are defined as U.S. GAAP net income attributable to Pfizer Inc. common shareholders and reported EPS attributable to Pfizer Inc. common shareholders—diluted before the impact of amortization of intangible assets, certain acquisition-related items, discontinued operations and certain significant items. See the accompanying reconciliations of certain GAAP Reported to Non-GAAP Adjusted information for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2022 and 2021. See here. Adjusted income and its components and Adjusted diluted EPS measures are not, and should not be viewed as, substitutes for U.S. GAAP net income and its components and diluted EPS. See the Non-GAAP Financial Measure: Adjusted Income sections of Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Pfizer’s 2021 Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended July 3, 2022 and the accompanying Non- GAAP Financial Measure: Adjusted Income section of Pfizer’s third quarter 2022 earnings release for a definition of each component of Adjusted income as well as other relevant information.
[2] Please reference Pfizer’s third quarter 2022 earnings release for additional information regarding our financial guidance details and assumptions. See here.

Forward-looking statements included herein, including those related to our anticipated operating and financial performance, are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. We encourage you to read our reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the sections captioned “Risk Factors” and “Forward Looking Information and Factors that May Affect Future Results,” for a description of such substantial risks and uncertainties. These reports are available at pfizer.com and the SEC’s website. Also reference Pfizer’s third quarter 2022 earnings release for additional information regarding our financial guidance details and assumptions. See here.