Pfizer chief boasts that Covid will continue to be a 'multi-billion dollar franchise for many years to come'

Just in case you were still under the illusion that covid was ever about anything other than money and power, Pfizer’s chief financial officer has described the Covid pandemic as a 'multi-billion dollar franchise' — and says that expects profit to continue for a long time yet.

David Denton told investors in an earnings call last week his company's vaccine and antiviral would still be 'relevant for many years to come'.

The CFO said he expects the Covid virus to be 'somewhat like a flu... but more deadly' — meaning therapeutics will still have a massive role in controlling the virus.

So far Pfizer has reaped about $80 billion in yearly revenue from sales of Covid vaccines and the antiviral drug Paxlovid.

The company announced last month it will triple the price of its shot to up to $130 per dose next year — a far cry from the roughly $19 to $30 per dose that the government paid.

Some experts estimate each individual shot to cost just $1.18 to make — meaning the new price represents a 10,000 per cent markup.

Analysts speculate that the move was made so Pfizer could still meet its target of $32 billion of projected vaccine revenue this year. 

Pfizer was an early winner during the pandemic when it became the first company to get a Covid-19 vaccine approved for the US market. Subsequent vaccine mandates for healthcare workers and the military further drove up sales of vaccines. 

The company projects $102 billion in total revenue this year with the vaccine and its antiviral  Paxlovid - more than double the company's yearly revenue in 2019 ($40.9 billion) and 2020 ($41.7 billion).   

Julia Kosgei, policy advisor to the The People's Vaccine Alliance said: 'Experts have estimated that Pfizer's vaccine costs just $1.18 per dose to make... Charging $130 per dose would represent a markup of more than ten thousand per cent. This is daylight robbery.'

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told investors last Tuesday: ‘With regard to our COVID-19 products, while their sales may fall from our expected 2022 levels of approximately combined $55 billion, we believe our COVID-19 franchises will remain multibillion-dollar revenue generators for the foreseeable future which should serve as a buffer for any unforeseen challenges with other products in our portfolio.’