Pfizer reports Q3 loss amid declining COVID-19 products sales

U.S. drugmaker Pfizer reported Tuesday a loss of 2.4 billion U.S. dollars for the third quarter due to the continued declining sales of its COVID-19 vaccine and treatments, reported Xinhua.

Pfizer said its third-quarter revenue was 13.23 billion dollars, lower than expected, down 42 percent from a year ago.

The company's quarterly COVID-19 vaccine sales raked in 1.31 billion dollars, a drop of 70 percent from the year-ago quarter.

Sales of Paxlovid, its major coronavirus treatment, slid 97 percent during the same period from a year earlier.

Pfizer's stock fell more than 1 percent on Tuesday after the report. Its shares slumped roughly 40 percent for the year as of Monday's close, putting the company's market value at around 172.5 billion dollars.

The pharmaceutical giant struggled to navigate a rapid decline of the COVID-19 business as the pandemic receded and the demand for its coronavirus products weakened, switching to selling on the commercial market from to the U.S. government.

Two weeks ago, Pfizer released its full-year adjusted earnings and revenue guidance, which were drastically lower than its initial forecast, and the company cut its annual revenue expectations by 9 billion dollars. The drugmaker also announced a sweeping cost-cutting plan of 3.5 billion dollars.

Pfizer expected 2023 revenue growth of 6 percent to 8 percent from non-COVID products, including its new-launched respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, with a majority occurring in the second half of this year.