Pfizer, Inc.

Q1 2022 Earnings Conference Call

5/3/2022

spk02: Good day, everyone, and welcome to Pfizer's first quarter 2022 earnings conference call. Today's call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Chris Devo, Senior Vice President and Chief Investor Relations Officer. Please go ahead, sir.
spk06: Thank you, Operator. Good morning. Welcome to Pfizer's first quarter earnings call. I'm joined today by Dr. Albert Bourla, our Chairman and CEO, Frankie Emilio, our CFO, and Michael Dolson, President of Worldwide Research and Development in Medical. Joining us for the Q&A session, we will also have Angela Huang, Group President, Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals Group, Amir Malek, our Chief Business and Innovation Officer, Doug Linkler, our General Counsel, and William Pao, our new Chief Development Officer. Materials for this call and other earnings-related materials on the investor relations section of Pfizer.com. We see our forward-looking statements disclaimer on slide three, and additional information regarding these statements and our non-GAAP financial measures is available in our earnings release and in our SEC forms 10-K and 10-Q under risk factors and forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements on the call are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties, speak only as of the call's original date, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any of the statements. With that, I will turn the call over to Albert.
spk04: Thank you, Chris, and good morning, everyone. Pfizer had had what a solid start to the year. Revenues were up 82% operationally compared with the first quarter of 2021. Key growth drivers for the quarter included community, VaxClovid, Eliquis, Fintech or Vitamax globally, our Prevnar family of vaccines, and our oncology biosimilars portfolio in the U.S. Overall, we reached an estimated 468 million patients around the world only in one quarter, with our innovative medicines and vaccines, which represents a 140% increase from the prior year quarter, and it is a testament to our purpose, breakers that change patients' lives. We continue to supply the world with Comirnaty, which remains a critical tool in helping prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19. Today, we have shipped nearly 3.4 billion doses of our vaccine to 179 countries. Comirnaty is the most utilized mRNA vaccine in the markets in which we operate, and the report markets our data. Pfizer's cumulative share of doses administered in these markets has increased, in fact, from 52% that used to be on January 1st, beginning of the year, 2022, to 62% on May 1st, 2022. Just a few months, 10 points. In developed markets, our share has increased from 59% to 67% over that same period of time. We also have had a strong start to the year with regard to regulatory milestones, including the emergency use authorization from the US FDA and conditional market authorization from EMA for our 12- to 15-year-old booster dose. We had an EUA from the FDA for a second booster before dose in patients 50 years of age and older and 12 years of age and older who are immunocompromised, and we had an extension to a 12-month frozen self-life label, 12 months, from both the FDA and the EMA. Our ambition is to eventually achieve a 24-month self-life, which would help alleviate concerns that some governments may have about having expired doses. In addition to the U.S. and the EU, we now have authorizations for the 5 to 11 age group in 44 other markets around the world. In addition, we have recently released new results from a Phase 2-3 clinical trial, demonstrating that the 10-microgram booster dose of our vaccine in healthy children 5 to 11 years of age increases geometric mean neutralizing antibody titers, geometric mean neutralizing antibody titers, wild type, and Omicron variants. Based on this data, Last week, we submitted an application to the FDA for a new way of a 10-microgram booster dose for children in this age group, and we look forward to filing in other jurisdictions in the near future. We also expect to share data on our ongoing study in children who are six months to under five years of age in the next few weeks. This study is looking at And we hope to submit an application for an EUA soon, pending the results of the data redoubt, of course. Lastly, we stand ready to support boosting authorized populations today, as well as in the fall ahead of the traditional flu season. Independent real-world evidence from several countries have demonstrated that our booster doses improve protection that may have waned from the primary vaccination or since the first booster. Our market research shows that greater than 96% of healthcare provider respondents in key markets, like the U.S. and the EU5 largest markets, continue to recommend a third-dose booster to their patients. We also have seen an upward trend in uptake of the third-dose booster in various developed markets. In these same markets that I referred previously, 74% of people who have received the initial two-dose regimen reported that they have already received their dose booster, 74%. And the remaining 13% of the respondents said that they are very likely to receive a booster. We believe this is an encouraging leading indicator for the potential uptake of a fourth We also continue to evaluate potential next-generation vaccines, including variant vaccines, to provide road coverage for the fall. And we look forward to evaluating and sharing these data in the coming months. We are also delivering on our commitments for PaxCovid, which is already having a profoundly positive impact on the lives of patients around the world. Through the end of March, we produced more than 6 million treatment courses, all of which have been shipped shortly after they were produced. Because the financial calendar quarter for international markets ends in February, and the majority of these 6 million treatments were produced in March, only a small portion of these shipments were recorded in our first quarter revenues. In fact, as of today, we have shipped approximately 8 million treatment courses. Our manufacturing ramp-up is progressing as planned, and we are on track to produce 24 million courses in the second quarter for a total of 30 million in the first half of the year. All of these quantities have already been allocated to existing orders. In addition, we remain on track to produce 120 million courses for the full year, as previously stated. Today, PaxClovid has received regulatory approvals or temporary authorizations for use with certain populations in more than 60 countries. We continue to have discussions with governments and regulatory agencies around the world about bringing this potential breakthrough treatment to additional markets. Some countries that they have experienced recent outbreaks have come back to us to request additional treatment courses. which we are responding to with urgency. Others are taking steps to expand access. For example, the Italian government recently announced an expansion of prescribing into primary care. We believe this shift from having only specialists prescribe PaxClovid will help ensure more patients get access at the right time. In the UK, PaxClovid will now be included in the National Panoramic Study, which we expect will increase access and collect further data regarding how the therapy works in a market where the majority of the adult population is vaccinated. This is important because today the UK has restricted Pax Clovis use to a very limited population, and this study could lead to government to open up access to a much broader population closer to the authorized In Canada, we expect increasing supply and the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions will enable greater access for patients across the country. Quebec and Ontario, which represent the two largest provinces and are home to more than 60% of Canada's population, have expanded distribution to eligible pharmacists, allowed pharmacists to prescribe, I repeat, allowed pharmacists to prescribe, and started a comprehensive direct-to-consumer and social media campaign to ensure all eligible patients are aware of the availability of Pax Clovis. Here in the U.S., we have seen Pax Clovis utilization grow nearly tenfold in recent weeks. Pax Clovis was administered to more than 79,000 patients in the U.S. the week ending April 22nd. up from approximately 8,000 patients for the weekend in February 25, 2022. We will continue to work with the U.S. government and healthcare providers to appropriately drive even higher utilization. And based on data from IQV Exponent, PaxCovid market share relative to Molnupiravir in the retail long-term care and mail order channels grew from 44% in the weekend in January 28 of 2022 to almost 90% in the weekend in April 22, 2022. Together, these channels represent an estimated 50% of PaxClovid utilization in the U.S. The number of locations in the U.S. with PaxClovid supply continues to increase with more than 33,000 sites live as of today. This is more than a four-fold increase since late February, leading to easier patient access. The U.S. government declared its intention to double the size again in the coming weeks and making PaxClovid available to any pharmacy who wishes to stock it. In addition, 77% of recent U.S. COVID-19 cases occur within five miles of the closest retail point of care, which is up from only 23% since February. We expect this trend to continue to increase, driven by the U.S. government's test-to-treat initiative. For example, nearly 1,100 more test-to-treat locations have been added since the beginning of April only. Today, there are more than 2,200 locations test street open. Overall, we expect the recent trends to expand access as well as inquiries received from governments as the virus mutates and cause spikes in infections around the world to result in increased orders in the coming months as governments continue to help protect their citizens who are at high risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death in response to emerging variants and continuing outbreaks. Now I will turn to our business development strategy. We leverage business development opportunities to advance our business strategies and objectives. We recently announced the top line results from a year-long phase three trial of etrosimone in moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. These results underscore Pfizer's ability to identify strong business development targets as this potentially best in class. drug candidate came to us via our recent acquisition of ARENA. We look forward to presenting this data and filing for approval later this year. First quarter, we discussed how the strength of our balance sheet and cash flows gives us the ability to pursue new business development opportunities that, if successful, at least 25 billion of risk-adjusted revenues to our 2030 top-line expectations. Our planned acquisition of Revival is the first deal to be counted towards this ambition. Revival is a privately held clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing novel antiviral therapeutics that target respiratory syncytial virus. basically they target RSV. We believe annual revenue from these programs, if successful, has the potential to reach or exceed 1.5 billion. This is big revenue. We also are excited about the prospect of adding several experienced virologists to our team. Building relationships within the growing biotech ecosystem remains a priority for Pfizer. We continue to pursue new creative ways of partnering with biotechs to increase our access to cutting-edge innovation and to bring our resources to bear to help drive breakthroughs for patients. We believe our scientific expertise, our end-to-end development and manufacturing capabilities makes us an extremely attractive partner, as seen, for example, through our relationship with BioNet. And we are confident that we have the financial resources to support business development opportunities that will complement and enhance our internal R&D efforts and add capacity and flexibility to support our growing clinical portfolio. Next, I would like to discuss some of our recent ESG highlights. First, we announced in February the results of Pfizer's third annual pay equity study, in which a recognized compensation expert confirmed equitable pay practices for employees at Pfizer. The results indicated that Pfizer compensates female colleagues at a level that is greater than 99% of what male colleagues are paid across the globe. Additionally, in the US, minorities are paid at dollar-for-dollar parity of what non-minorities are paid. When you look at Pfizer's median pay for women globally, It is in high, 100.2.3% for the median pay of males. However, when you look at the median pay for minorities in the U.S. workforce, it is 85.5% of the median pay for our non-minorities. This median raise pay gap is an area we are actively addressing and that we expect to narrow. Second, I want to reiterate that Pfizer stands with a unified global community in opposition to Russia's invasion to Ukraine. While Pfizer is maintaining our humanitarian supply of medicine to Russians, as we should, we will be donating all profits of our Russian subsidiary to causes that provide direct humanitarian support to the people of Ukraine. Additionally, we will no longer initiate new clinical trials in Russia and will stop recruiting new patients in our ongoing clinical trials in the country. Pfizer will work with the FDA other regulators to transition all ongoing clinical trials to alternative sites outside Russia. And consistent with our commitment to putting patients first, we will continue providing needed medicines to the patients already enrolled in clinical trials in Russia. Lastly, we are seizing all future investments with local suppliers intended to build manufacturing capacity in Russia. Further demonstrating our commitment to equitable access, we have made the decision that for as long as the pandemic lasts, Pfizer will not profit from sales of our COVID-19 treatment to the world's poorest countries. In March, Pfizer announced an agreement with UNICEF to supply up to 4 million treatment courses of VaxClovid to 95 low- and middle-income countries. Under the agreement, all low- and lower-middle-income countries will be offered the treatment courses at a not-for-profit price, while upper-middle-income countries will pay a price defined in Pfizer's tier pricing approach. Lastly, I'm pleased to share that Pfizer continues to be recognized as an ethical, patient-focused company that holds itself and its employees and its business partners to high standards. In March, Pfizer was recognized as one of the world's most ethical companies by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices. And just last week, and we are so proud about it, for the first time ever, Pfizer ranked first among big pharma companies in the Patient View Global Survey in 2021. This ranking is based on feedback from more than 2,000 patient organizations and associations worldwide. As recently as 2018, We were ranked fifth, and we have steadily climbed in the rankings ever since, but we are so proud that we are number one right now. Now, I would like to welcome two new members of Pfizer Executive Leadership Team. Dr. William Howe joined us on March 21st as Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer. Throughout his 25-year career as an oncologist and scientist, William has amazed extensive clinical and deep scientific expertise that make him the ideal partner to continue our pursuit in breakthrough medicines and vaccines for the benefit of patients and society. Just yesterday, David Denton joined us as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President. Dave brings with him more than 25 years of finance and operational expertise, including more than 20 years in the healthcare sector. As a result, he brings to Pfizer a unique perspective on the role of payers, the needs of patients, and the rapidly evolving healthcare landscape. We are thrilled to welcome these two highly effective and visionary leaders at this critical time for our company and global health. And now, before I hand it off to Michael, I want to take a moment to thank Frank D'Amelio, my best friend in Pfizer, for his many contributions to Pfizer. In addition to helping ensure Pfizer's financial strength and discipline, Frank has been an incredible mentor to many of Pfizer's current leaders, helped shape our long-term growth strategy, and worked tirelessly to ensure Pfizer has the resources it needs to help improve the lives of patients around the world. Frank, on behalf of all Pfizer colleagues, and I'm sure all the analysts on today's call, and not only, I wish you continued good health and success. With that, I will turn it over to Michael to update you on the R&D efforts. After Michael, Frank will provide financial details on the first quarter and our outlook for the remainder of 2022. Michael.
spk11: Thank you, Albert. I'd like to start by highlighting two recent external acknowledgments of Pfizer's R&D It was ranked first for innovation in the 11th Annual Pharmaceutical Innovation and Invention Index and first for what Forbes termed total R&D productivity over 20 years in a paper published in BiDiscovery today. This is a testament not only to the work of our scientists over the past year, but our purposeful efforts to improve our R&D engine over the past 10 years. Today, I will share updates on COVID-19, inflammation and immunology, RSV, oncology, Lyme disease, and hemophilia. In some cases, I may reference publicly available data on other agents so that you can understand our enthusiasm about what we're seeing in our development program. Of course, head-to-head clinical trials would be necessary to support any comparative claims. We continue to pursue a comprehensive and data-driven clinical strategy for Cominati, focus on evaluating real-world vaccine effectiveness, demonstrating higher immunogenicity with boosters, expanding access to pediatric population, and addressing emerging variants of concern. On the left, in the phase 2-3 trial of Cominati administered to children age 5 to 11, we have shown that the third 10-microgram dose demonstrated a six-fold boost in utilizing wild-type SARS-CoV-2 and a 36-fold boost in utilizing the Omicron variant. Last week, we submitted an EUA request to the FDA for a third dose boost in this population. On the right, we showed that the third 30-microgram dose administered to adults in the landmark clinical trial effectively neutralize the Omicron sub-lineages, including BA.2 one month after those three. We have also now received EUA for a second booster in people age 50 and older, and for individuals 12 years of age and older who have certain kinds of immunocompromised. This expanded authorization was based on data from ISRO generated while the Omicron variant was dominant. And approximately 11-fold increase in geometric mean utilizing antibody titers against wild-type virus, Delta, and Omicron variants, respectively, were reported at two weeks after the second booster as compared to five months after the first booster. Here we show recently published real-world data from Israel that the fourth dose of Comirnaty lowered rates of hospitalization, severe illness, and death amidst the Omicron outbreak. The fourth dose is now recommended for certain high-risk populations in more than 15 countries. There's been a notable increase in the number of pediatric infections and hospitalizations in the last few weeks, and we recognize that parents of younger children and healthcare providers have been waiting for an effective vaccine. We have been working with urgency to generate data. We began the rolling submissions for EUA in children aged six months to four years in February, while continuing to evaluate the third three microgram dose, which make it optimal to deliver a high degree of protection against Omicron. We expect to analyze and submit the three dose data by late May, early June, and anticipate both FDA and CDC advisory committees to meet soon after to consider the submission. Turning to PaxLavis. Following EUA in December for both high-risk adults and high-risk children 12 and older weighing at least 40 kilograms, we expect to find soon an FDA decision on the new drug application in these populations in the second half of 2022. Recently, the WHO strongly recommended Paxlovid for people with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at the highest risk for stabilization because they're unvaccinated, older, or immunocompromised. We expect pivotal readouts of the standard risk study in the second half of 22 and report the top line results from the household contact prophylaxis study last week. In March, we initiated a study in children and expect their data in the second quarter of 23. We are first enrolling children aged six to 17 years and working to develop an age-appropriate formulation for children younger than six. A new study in immunocompromised patients is planned to start in the second half of 22. Some immunocompromised patients were involved in the EPIC-HO study. However, given the high unmet needs, we believe EPIC-IC will allow us to further evaluate Paxlovid efficacy in this population and ensure the treatment duration is optimized, given there are more limited natural immune response to healthcare infection. With the close of the ARENA acquisition in March, I'd like to highlight the potential for atrazimod as a best-in-class oral medicine for ulcerative colitis and its strategic fit within our overall inflammation and immunology pipeline. First, atrazimod is differentiated It's a one daily pill with rapid onset, no anticipated required titration, and a promising benefit-risk profile. In the phase three ELEVATE studies, the TRESMODE demonstrated robust clinical remission in patients with moderate to severe active ulcerative colitis. In March, we reported that the ELEVATE UC52 trial met the co-primer endpoints of clinical remission at both weeks 12 and 52, and all key secondary endpoints. Looking at the totality of data across phase 2 and phase 3 studies, we see a 12-week remission rate of 25 to 30 percent compared to placebo at 6 to 15 percent. We are projecting a filing in ulcerative colitis in the second half of 22. This candidate also has broad potential beyond UC, The adaptive phase 2-3 study in Crohn's disease is ongoing, and we expect to start phase 3 and atopic dermatitis in the fourth quarter. The potential expansion to Crohn's and eosinophilic esophagitis strengthen our gastroenterology pipeline. Overall, given that immune inflammatory diseases have heterogeneous disease drivers, which require multiple options for effective treatment, and the continuing significant unmet need of patients in achieving long-term remission, we are excited about the portfolio of diverse and promising candidates from ARENA that nicely complement our existing I&I pipeline. Ritlacitinib is our unique cytokine modulator. It's a potent pan-tech family inhibitor which spares IL-10 protective cytokine and spares dominant JAK activity of existing effective oral JAK agents. We have seen promising Phase II efficacy demonstrated across alopecia, vitiligo, and ulcerative colitis. The Phase II study in Crohn's disease is ongoing. Ritlacitinib received FDA breakthrough designation for alopecia, and we expect to file in the second quarter. We are finalizing potential Phase III study protocols for vitiligo and exploring path for ulcerative colitis. In phase 2b, ritlicitinib demonstrated robust efficacy in both facial and total vitiligo area severity indexes, or VASI. Here, we showed a facial VASI improvement. On the left, ritlicitinib demonstrated up to 66% improvement from baseline through week 48. Efficacy was observed across light and dark skin type. On the right, you see two visual representations of significant improvement in facial VASI at 48 weeks. Last month, we announced our intent to acquire Revio and its respiratory syncytial virus therapeutic candidates. RSV remains a significant unmet need globally with no approved treatment and a proposed acquisition will strengthen our capability in infectious disease R&D with a complementary strategy to help improve patient outcomes through treatment and prevent illness through vaccination. This mirrors our COVID-19 strategy, establishing leadership across vaccines and therapeutics for RSV to deliver potential breakthroughs. Our RSV candidate elicited high RSV-A and B-neutralizing titers in preclinical animal models and in Phase I-II clinical studies, and has received FDA breakthrough designation for the material, maternal, and adult program. We anticipate pivotal readouts of the maternal and adult studies in the second half of 22. Revirals pipeline include a lead candidate, schizonativir, which has received fast-track designation, and a second program focused on the inhibition of RSV replication targeting the viral N protein. Silsinativir is an orally administered inhibitor designed to block fusion of the RSV virus to the host cell. In a phase two health adult challenge study, Silsinativir significantly reduced viral load. The data are shown on the right. There's also an ongoing three-part adaptive phase two study in hospitalized infants. Successful completion of part A was achieved in June 21 with favorable safety in pharmacokinetics. Part B is ongoing. We now turn to oncology and encouraging data from the phase three trial of Lorvina. Three-year follow-up data presented at AACR confirmed prolonged progression-free survival in first-line ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer patients. There was a 73% reduction in risk of disease progression of death versus chrysotomy. The three-year PFS rate in the lobrima arm was 63.5%. Three-year rates for second-generation medicines are generally 20% points lower based on cross-trial assessment. No definitive conclusion can be drawn from cross-trial comparison. There were no new safety signals and a low permanent discontinuation rate of 7.4% for patients on laurabrina. High central nervous system activity is important for patients with and without brain metastasis. Between 25 and 40% of ALK positive patients present with brain metastasis at diagnosis, and between 24 and 40% of patients develop them within two years of diagnosis. Brain metastasis are one of the most common causes of death in this patient population. Leveraging our expertise in developing brain penetrant oncology treatment Lorbina was specifically designed to meet this significant unmet need. We have seen high activity in patients with or without baseline brain metastasis. Significant intracranial activity was observed with Lorbina as evidenced not only by intracranial response rates, but also by time to intracranial progression as shown here. At three years of follow-up, 92.3% of patients treated with Lubrina were alive and free of intracranial events, compared with 37.7% treated with crosotinib. In Lubrina-treated patients without brain metastasis, only one out of 112 patients had evidence of intracranial progression, suggesting a potential protective effect against development of brain metastasis with Lubrina treatment. Here we show the first data from the pediatric cohort of the phase 2 trial of our Lyme disease vaccine candidate, the only one of its kind in clinical development. Lyme disease affects all age groups, but children are considered the population most at risk due to their outdoor activities. We saw robust immunogenicity across all pediatric age groups and serotypes, and the safety profile was similar to that previously reported in adults. The program has received FDA fast track designation, and we plan to include pediatric participants in the phase three trial expected to start in the third quarter. As in adults, the Immunity and Safety Data support a three-dose primary vaccination schedule in pediatric participants in the phase three study. Now, I'd like to highlight our robust portfolio of investigational therapies to potentially treat all people with hemophilia. We expect a number of clinical trials for our hemophilia portfolio to read out in 23. Mastasimab is our novel non-factor treatment candidate with a potential to address a broad patient population as a new subcutaneous prophylactic treatment for patients with hemophilia A or B, including those with inhibitors. We anticipate the pivotal readout in second quarter 23. Mastasimab has FDA fast track designation for HEMA A and B patients with inhibitors. If successful, we predict submitting for the non-inhibitor indication in both HEMA A and B in the third quarter of 2023. Turning to our gene therapy candidates. Last year at ASH, we presented updated phrase 1B2 data from the largest cohort of persons with hemophilia B who have had at least three years of follow-up with AAV gene therapy. Ninety-three percent of participants achieved Factor IX activity in the mild or normal range between three to five and a half years of OLA. We expect a pivotal readout in the first quarter of 23. In Heme A, we also presented updated Phase 1b data that ASH Factor VIII activity was 25 percent of normal of two years in the highest dose score. The FDA has lifted a clinical hold on our phase three pivotal study, and we anticipate study resumption in the third quarter of this year with a pivotal readout estimated in the second half of 2023. Finally, here are the top 25 key milestones achieved and anticipated for the rest of the year. Six in the regulatory space, 12 pivotal readouts, and seven early stage readouts. I'd also note the last week we announced the planned opening of the first U.S. site in our phase three trial, evaluating our investigational ministrophine gene therapy for ambulatory patients with Duchenne's muscular dystrophy. The trial also has received regulatory approval to restart from several other counties. Pending regulatory feedback, we anticipate that an early all site will open by the end of June. The European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use granted prime designation for GBS6, our maternal vaccine candidate against Group B streptococcal infection. It's currently being evaluated in an ongoing Phase II study. Thank you for your attention, and I look forward to your questions. Now, let me turn it over to Frank.
spk10: Thanks, Michael. I know you've seen our release, so let me provide a few brief highlights regarding the financials. Turning to the income statement, revenue increased 82% operationally in the first quarter of 2022, driven by COVID-19 vaccine and Paxlovid sales, and strong performance for a number of our other key growth drivers. And looking at the revenue excluding the COVID-19 vaccine direct sales and alliance revenues and Paxlovid contribution, it increased by 2% operationally. The effect of fewer selling days year over year decreased revenues by about 1%, and losses of exclusivity negatively impacted revenues by 2%. Operational growth would have been approximately 5% without these. Also, please remember that Q1 2021 to 8% operationally excluding commonality versus the prior year quarter, resulting in a very difficult comparable. This was broadly as expected and is embedded in our current guidance. The adjusted cost of sales increase shown here reduced this quarter's gross margin by approximately 10 percentage points as compared to the first quarter of 2021 14 percentage points attributable to the impact of higher COVID-19 vaccine sales year over year, partially mitigated by net favorable product mix for other products, primarily driven by higher sales of Paxlovid and higher alliance revenues. Adjusted SIA expenses in the first quarter decreased primarily due to lower spending on corporate enabling functions, partially offset by increased spending for Cominarty and Paxlovid. The increase in adjusted R&D expense this quarter was primarily driven by increased investments in multiple late-stage clinical programs, as well as additional spend to prevent and treat COVID-19. The growth rate for reported diluted EPS was 59%, while adjusted diluted EPS grew 76% operationally. Foreign exchange movements resulted in a negative 5% impact to revenue, as well as a negative 4% impact, or 4 cents, to adjusted diluted EPS. Now let's move to our updated 2022 guidance. We expect total company revenue to be in a range of $98 to $102 billion, representing an operational growth rate of 27% at the midpoint. The revenue range absorbs an additional $2 billion of anticipated negative impact from changes in foreign exchange rates as the U.S. dollar continues to strengthen against other currencies since we last updated our exchange rate assumptions. Regarding our COVID-19 related revenues, we continue to expect the vaccine revenue for the year to be approximately $32 billion unchanged compared to our prior guidance provided on February 8th, despite the impact of $1 billion of incremental negative foreign exchange. For Paxlovid, we expect sales of approximately $22 billion, keeping the guidance unchanged, despite an incremental 500 headwind due to foreign exchange. This means that excluding the COVID-19 related revenues, we expect sales to be approximately 46 billion at the midpoint, representing operational growth of 5% and absorbing the increased negative impact of about 500 million to foreign exchange. While this is slightly below the 6% CAGR that we continue to expect between 2020 and 2025, we continue to be confident in our ability to achieve that 2025 target. Now let me give some detail on our cost and expense guidance. We slightly improved our guidance for adjusted cost of sales reducing the entire range by 20 basis points, the new range being 32% to 34%. We've separated the former R&D line into two, R&D and a new line for acquired IP R&D to isolate the IP R&D charges, which are driven by business development transactions. Our guidance includes $900 million of this expense for 2022 based on business development transactions which have either already closed or are already signed as of mid-April. of which only 100 million was previously assumed in our R&D guidance for adjusted results. We will not forecast acquired R&D for transactions which are not closed or signed. We've also increased our adjusted R&D expense guidance by 500 million to reflect incremental life cycle spending for COVID-19 vaccines and antivirals and investments in other projects. In addition, as noted with fourth quarter results, we've made a decision to modify our adjusted results treatment of amortization of intangibles. Previously, we only excluded amortization related to large mergers and acquisitions, but we will now exclude all intangible asset amortization expense. This is anticipated to contribute six cents to our 2022 adjusted liabilities per share and improves comparability with our peers. This six cents was previously included in our 2022 guidance. These assumptions yield an adjusted delivered EPS range of 625 to 645 or 61% operational growth at the midpoint compared to 2021. This updated EPS guidance includes a $0.10 operational improvement offset by a negative $0.11 due to foreign exchange and another $0.11 due to IPR&T. Together, these impacts met out to an adjusted EPS range, which is $0.10 lower than our initial guidance. 2022 guidance once again assumes no incremental share repurchases beyond the $2 billion of share repurchases we completed in March. Going forward, we will continue to be prudent in our capital allocation activities with the opportunities for deployment shown here on this slide. So before I turn the call back to Chris to start the Q&A session, I wanted to make a personal comment. This conference call will mark my last as Pfizer's CFO, and I wish Dave and Pfizer all the success in the world. It has been my immense pleasure and privilege to serve as Pfizer's CFO for nearly 15 years. I've always enjoyed my interactions with you, our investors, and our analysts, and I will miss them. To my FISA colleagues, I am so proud of what we have accomplished together, and I look forward to your achieving more success in the future. And as a large FISA shareholder, you can be sure that I'll be watching. With that, let me turn it over to Chris for Q&A.
spk06: Thanks, Frank. With that, let's start the Q&A session. We will answer as many questions as time permits. And as always, investor relations will be available after the call to answer any questions you weren't able to ask. Operator, first question, please.
spk02: Your first question comes from the line of Louise Chen with Cantor.
spk17: Hi, thanks for taking my questions, and Frank, thank you for all your contributions to Pfizer, and we will really miss working with you. So first question I have for you is, William, what are your initial impressions of Pfizer having come recently from the outside? And then the second question I had is, What is the opportunity for a potential EU PaxLivid contract and sales potential in China? Thank you.
spk04: William, why don't you start with your impressions?
spk09: Sure, Luis, so thanks for the question. Yeah, I would say I've been, my expectations have been exceeded. Many reasons I came to Pfizer, but one of them was the great science that's going on, the real dedication to breakthrough innovation, but also the pace with which things have been done and being Pfizer accomplished Paxlovid and the vaccine were really inspiring, and I came to further build upon that and really transform how we do drug development. Thank you.
spk04: Angela, do you want to take a little bit of the EU Paxlovid contract?
spk03: Thanks for the question, Luis. So, you know, in Europe, I would say that we're really taking a sort of a two-pronged approach to our contracting. One, we have bilateral agreements that have actually either been secured or about to be secured in many of our countries. But in addition to that, we're also looking at an EU-level contract. So I think more on that to come as we, you know, whenever we're ready to share what the outcome of that is. But just suffice to say that we're using both approaches in Europe. What I am able to share is that we are working with a local distributor called Mexico to distribute and to ensure access to our Paxlovid in China. And that's all I'm able to say right now. I'm not really able to share more about the terms of the agreement or the volumes or anything related to that. So thanks.
spk04: Thank you very much. Next question, please.
spk02: Your next question comes from the line of Evan Seegerman with BMO.
spk08: Hey, guys. Thank you so much for taking my question. Congrats on the quarter. So I have two on COVID. One, when we think about the evolution of the booster market, you know, how do you see this going? We've seen some data suggesting that we're kind of walking blindly into recommending boosters every so often. What's the ultimate goal of vaccination? Is it to prevent, you know, mild symptomatic COVID? or is it really just to prevent the severe disease and overloading at the hospitals? And then my second question is, when we think about the evolution of the commercial model for Paxlovid, can you talk to that? When do you expect to maybe file an NDA and transition away, at least in the United States, from kind of government contracting to more traditional commercial model? Thank you so much.
spk04: Yes, thank you for your question. Let me see if I can answer, and then I will ask our scientists if they have something to add. On the evolution of booster, I think all authorities, they are not moving blindly. They are moving based on data. And the reason why they recommend it is because data are supporting, according to their opinion. I believe that right now, the effort it is to be able to stay ahead of the virus, and the virus mutates, and the most serious mutation that we've seen was the Omicron. One, because it was the one that was able to evade. the immune protection of us. Until then, I think the vaccines were offering very, very good protection against disease and, of course, an excellent protection against hospitalizations and deaths. With Omicron, we saw that while we keep a very good protection against hospitalizations and deaths, the protection against the disease is going down. So we have seen that with real-world data that the fourth dose of the current vaccine protects significantly, folds, many folds, the patients from either hospitalizations or death, and of course also protects the infections, but not to the degree that it used to be. Everybody's working also for new vaccines that will be able to protect better against Omicron while maintaining the same protection against the wild types. We are very advanced with our studies, and we are waiting to hear from the FDA what basic combinations they would recommend, what they would like to see at the AMDMA, and we will be ready day one with our vaccines, both in terms of filing and both in terms of manufacturing. As regards to PaxClovid, right now we are completing the studies, and I will ask Michael to comment when we think that we can file for a full NDA.
spk11: Yeah, you know, we will file an NDA quite soon, this half of the year, and look forward to as soon as possible, in review, getting it approved, which would allow even more engagement with the medical and other communities. So we think that would be very helpful in order to increase education and access to the medicine.
spk04: And anything to add on the booster
spk11: and how we are looking at it. You said, described very well how this has been science driven and Pfizer is proud to have been leading, being often the first for whether it is primary series of boost or new age groups. So I just wanted to add that we expect pending the VRBPAC to start the fall season with a vaccination campaign, a new boost, which will be critical then to regain and, as Albert alluded to, possibly further strengthen versus new evolution that we're seeing in Omicron. And it's likely going to be an annual procedure with this type of public recommendation about strains. And for some more vulnerable patient groups, immunocompromised, older, we have learned that it may be even in between an extra dose. So we are on top of the science and we expect every year to be able to incorporate new science. We're doing multiple learnings on how to further evolve the vaccine and see us as a natural leader as we have established such deep insights. William, anything to add? Thank you.
spk04: Okay. Then the next question, please.
spk02: Your next question comes from the line of Mohit Bansal with Wells Fargo.
spk19: Great. Thanks for taking my question. Maybe one question regarding Paxlovid. So it seems like you have mentioned 6 million courses. The sales is about $1.5 billion. So this calculates to about $250 per course price. So am I calculating it right? And number two, it seems like you're suggesting that all 20 million courses in 2Q would be shipped. So is that correct? And the pricing should be lower or higher than $250 per course. Thank you.
spk04: Yes. Thank you very much, Samavit. No, there is a disconnect. Let me try to explain it. We did produce 6 million doses by the end of March. From them, only 4.2 or 4.3 were shipped outside. In March, the remaining were shipped in the first week of April, basically. But also from the 4.2 that were shipped, a very small proportion, a smaller proportion was recorded as revenues in this quarter. Why? Because most of them were shipped in March, and everything that was shipped in the U.S. in March counts for Q1, but everything that was shipped internationally Q1 counts for Q2 in the accounting calendar that we have. So the doses that made this 1.5 billion sales is way smaller than the 6 million doses that you referred. In terms of what we expect, we expect in this quarter to have 24 million doses. So by the end of June to have been able to produce 30 million doses altogether. Clearly, some of them, again, will be shipped in July. Clearly, some of that will be shipped in June in international markets. So you should be calculating as you're having the first quarter that everything will go into, let's say, the second quarter of all this volume. Next quarter.
spk02: Your next question comes from the line of Terrence Flynn with Morgan Stanley.
spk01: Great. Thanks so much for taking the questions. I know it's a little too early to give 2023 guidance, but maybe Angela or Frank, you could just help us think about the puts and takes for Comirnaty for next year. And if you think consensus is in the right range at 17 to 18 billion. And then my second question relates to Trasmod. for ulcerative colitis. Michael, based on your comments, it seems like the placebo response rate in the Phase 3 trial might have been slightly higher than Phase 2. Just wondering if that's accurate and any additional insight you could share there. Thanks so much.
spk04: Thanks a lot, Terrence. Look, I will ask Frank, but good luck. He will not give you guidance for a product, and he will not give you guidance for 23. But let's see how he responds to that question. And then, Michael, can you speak about the transcript?
spk10: So I'm not going to provide 2020 guidance, but, you know, obviously, as so what we did for 2022 guidance, you know, we reiterated the guidance on Paxlovid, we reiterated the guidance on Cominati, by the way, $54 billion approximately revenue while absorbing $1.5 billion of foreign exchange. And, you know, if you listen to the commentary we've had so far on Paxlovid, we remain bullish on Paxlovid. If you look at some of the recent trends and you look at some of the charts that Albert provided in terms of tenfold growth, from the end of February to the end of April, the number of sites that we're at, 33,000 sites now. So the rhythm of that product looks very good and we remain very bullish.
spk04: And also I will say that for 2023, there are going to be a lot of puts and takes because there will be likely new innovation that is coming that we need to see how that plays. And also changes in the business models, right? There is a chance that the US will go to private market next year. I think... likely international, they will continue with governmental purchases, and we do have a contract for these purchases that goes 23 and beyond at 24. So there are a lot of puts and takes that will be in play here. But let's move to something that is very interesting, a trust fund.
spk11: Yeah. Thank you for your interest, Terence, there. I think, of course, the antigen that I shared was based on the pivotal studies that will be filed. And you're sure I noted that one of them did have a placebo rate slightly higher. The more extensive of the phase three had a traditional placebo rate and a very nice delta between treated and untreated. As you know, for great drugs, you would like to see in the range of maybe a 20% delta, And while we won't give you all details, as we're expecting data soon to be presented this year at the proper conference, I can assure you that we saw a very nice fable delta for a treatment treated. We talked about 12-week remission rate in our earnings talking point. The drug did very well in the 52-week maintenance phase. And all secondary endpoints are looking very favorable. So that's really why we think it can be both a best in class and, in some way, a best in disease, given its convenience, its rapid onset of action, its well-tolerated profile. Thank you for your interest.
spk04: Thank you. Next question, please.
spk02: Your next question comes from the line of Emil Devon with Mizuho.
spk18: Great. Thanks for taking my questions. Maybe just shifting gears a little bit to the quarter and some of the core products here. So one, I'm curious about iBrands, especially in the U.S., because we mentioned again in the release it was down 5% and some of this was through the patient assistance program. And I guess I sort of thought that was more of a 2021 dynamic, kind of going through the pandemic. And by this year, it may actually be more of a positive pricing benefit that you see. So maybe you can just kind of share a little bit more color on what you're seeing in the market there. And then the second one is on Zelljans, which is obviously down quite a bit. We all know about the safety issues and label updates and all that. I'm just trying to get a better sense of how you see that product sort of going forward. You obviously have a good immunology pipeline and a lot of other assets to leverage here, but do you see sort of Zelljans stabilizing here? Do you think it's going to continue to decline? So how would you sort of, you know, view that product outlook over the rest of the year and in the next year or two going forward? Thank you.
spk04: Thank you, Vamil. Very, very good questions, both of them. So Angela, let's start with iBrands, and then you go to Celso. Thanks.
spk03: So let's talk about iBrands first. Just from a performance perspective, I just want to emphasize that iBrands is still by far and away the undisputed leader in the CDK class. Actually, in ex-US, it grew 12% this quarter. And as you mentioned accurately, it did have a negative 5% growth in the US, and this was largely due to the PAP. In fact, if you strip that out, TRX volume actually grew 3% in the US for iBrands. So it's really this high proportion of unpaid RXs that led us to this revenue growth that you saw. Just to give you a sense of the scale of the PAP, compared to a year ago, we've seen a 32% increase in PAP applications. However, Q1 was similar to where we were in Q4 in terms of the number of enrollees. But maybe if we step back, it's maybe not so surprising that iBrands would have such a high proportion of PAP because it is the market leader. More than 75% of all the scripts in the CDK class belong to a part of iBrands. And so if you link that to the financial hardships that are still in the economy, and you link that to the fact that there are reduced alternate sourcing of financial assistance, which is driving more people to the iBrands path. Also, just from an annual perspective, patients enroll in January, most of them, but they stay for the year. So I think what we're seeing is approximately what we're going to continue to see for the remainder of the year. But maybe the important message here is that this does not mean that there is no growth opportunity for eye brands, even in 2022. We know that there is tremendous growth opportunity in the CDK class, and our ability to make this pie bigger is going to be great for patients as well. We saw just in the last year an increase of the CDK class from where we were in Q1 of 2021, which was just 48%. to where we are now this quarter in 22, which is 54%. So this positive momentum of the growth of the class is something that we are very focused on. In addition to the fact that, of course, over the pandemic, we did see some lag in new patient starts and diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer patients or delays in putting them on treatment. And so that's another area of focus for us as well that will help to drive the increased momentum around iBrain. So that's iBrands. So let's spend a minute talking about Zelle Jans and your question around sort of where are we with Zelle Jans and what do we see? And we definitely see 2022 as a year of transition for us. Why? Well, first, when you step back and look at Zelle Jans performance, you have to look beyond Zelle Jans. It's not just about the product. It's also about the class. And so just to give you some numbers on what has happened in the class, Over the last year, so between this quarter and same quarter last year in 2021, the new to brand prescriptions in the JAK class actually went down 40%. Now, Belgen's went down 50%, but we also saw products like Rynbok, other products in the JAK class, go down by 35%. So when we look at growth, it's important that the class returns to growth as well. I say that 22 is going to be your transition for Zalgans because we finally have a clear label, and with this label, we're going to be able to focus on post-TNF, the post-TNF segment as our place and as the place where Zalgans can play. And this market is also significant because we know that many patients don't respond to TNF, and most will need options beyond TNF. Finally, we're seeing some nice signs of stabilization compared to where we were over the last year. For the first time, our new-to-brand RXs are stable versus declining. We're also seeing that there are switches back into ZelleJans versus just purely away from ZelleJans. In our market research, we see an increase in the intention to prescribe by healthcare professionals And then finally, also in the market research, we see that the safety perceptions of ZELJANs are equivalent to that of RENVROP. So it demonstrates that the playing field in the JAG class is now leveling. So we're really focused on education. We have massive education efforts behind ZELJANs to reestablish where and how ZELJANs should be used. And that's what gives us confidence that we can return ZELJANs to growth.
spk04: Thank you, Angela, as always. Operator to the next question, please.
spk02: Our next question comes from the line of Carrie Holford with Barenburg.
spk14: Hi, thank you. A couple of questions, please. Firstly, on COVID vaccine. I noted in your 10K that you expect to recognize at least $11.8 billion of revenues in 2023. Should we think about that as a flaw for next year? based on the contracts you've already signed? And if so, have you signed any further contracts for delivery in 2023 and beyond since you published that 10K in February? Secondly, on the RSV vaccine, I saw in slide 36, you're now confirming the phase three data readout for the older adult vaccine now in the second half of the year. Does that solely reflect the expansion of the patient population within the study? Do you need to run into another RSV season or are you also evaluating annual RSV vaccinations in this study? And lastly, when do you aim to file and launch that product in the U.S.? Thank you.
spk04: Thank you very much, Kert. Frank, do you want to give the answer on the chest?
spk10: You know, in terms of 2023, we'll talk about 2023 in detail when we provide 2023 guidance, which will be on our fourth quarter earnings call. We'll talk about the puts and takes. We'll explain, you know, where we are this year, where we are next year, what the growth drivers are, you know, and obviously that'll include what the revenues will be for the COVID vaccine. So that's to come.
spk04: Thank you. And then, Michael, you want to take the RSV question about the seasonal filing? And then, William, if you have anything to add, please.
spk15: Yeah.
spk11: You know, as I spoke in the introduction, Pfizer is very excited about the portfolio of the RSV vaccine and the RSV therapeutics, and I think we have had very strong data in the phase two challenge study, complete protection, and also in the maternal study where we actually, with small numbers, had 85% efficacy and very strong immunogenicity across the A and B strains. I believe we are the only one with such a comprehensive data set. Starting with the maternal, to the best of my knowledge, we are really the only advanced RSV vaccine there. We took the opportunity as we had sites opening up in Latin America to also capture from that region of the world and in this now 2022 season, more cases to add to our study. We expect in a couple to a few months to have the readout based on where we are now for the maternal. And relatively shortly thereafter this year, the adult trial is expected based on a comprehensive set of sites also in the southern hemisphere. So it's really a perfect composition of RSV cases from different parts of the world, And I look forward very much to the readout and remain very optimistic. It's one of my favorite programs.
spk09: Mine as well. William, anything to add? Yeah, I would just add that you mentioned already, Michael, that both programs got a breakthrough designation, and so we're very excited about it. Of course.
spk04: Everybody recognized that it's apparently the favorite programs of every ESMA. Let's move to the next question, please.
spk02: Your next question comes from the line of Steve Scala with Cowan.
spk00: Thank you very much, and thank you, Frank, for everything and all the best to you in the future. I have a follow-up on the RSV vaccine. In which ACIP meeting in 2023 would the Pfizer vaccine most likely be considered? And I assume, of course, you have not seen premature births in the maternal study, but do you have a theory as to why you haven't when your competitor has. And then a question on Eliquis for Angela. To what degree has bleeding risk limited prescribing of Eliquis? And if a drug came along that was associated with less bleeding, do you think that would be a significantly preferred agent? Thank you.
spk04: All right. Angela, why don't you take the ACIP meeting and then also the question about the bleeding, and then we can go to Michael.
spk03: Sure. You know, ACIP, you know, the schedule for ACIP is just closely, you know, held by the ACIP, the working group, and the CDC. So it's a really typical thing for me to be able to predict. But, you know, typically it's sort of within the – you know, the two to three month period from launch, right? Because you know that it only happens several times a year. So you really need to be able to catch it right to be able to meet, you know, whatever their next meeting is. So I honestly think that's a very difficult question to answer. But suffice to say that, of course, we will work as rapidly as possible to ensure that it gets on the schedule of the very next one post-launch. On your question around bleeding, it has not been one that has come up actually for Eliquis in large measure, I have to say. Our performance continues to be really strong. We're the number one NOAC in 24 markets. We're the number one oral anticoagulant in 21 other markets. So I'd say that the uptake of Eliquis, our performance, which as you can see this quarter, continues to be double-digit. I think it's the the 10th year in a row that we've had double-digit growth on Eloquist, and we continue to see tremendous market share and utilization. So I would say that that has not been an issue that we have seen.
spk10: Correct. And if I could just punctuate, if you look at the revenue number this quarter for Eloquist, the revenue number is $1.8 billion almost, up 12% operationally. Continued, continued strong performance by that product.
spk04: Exactly, exactly. And also, I wanted also to add to Angela's comment that, of course, we can't predict when ACIP will do whatever they think is appropriate to do. But we do know that RSV is considered by CDC as a major disease threat. And I'm sure that, as always, they will demonstrate the appropriate urgency to deal with a vaccine if it is registered. Michael, there was this question about premature births that we do not have. And if you can provide why we don't and why others may.
spk11: Well, you know, we have a very deep and long experience how to design vaccines and for different patient groups. As this is for maternal, we obviously developed a very well-tolerated vaccine and we were able without the need of any harsh adjuvant to get very high immune responses. That included that we use both RSV-A and B antigens. I believe we're the only one that have that going. You know, I can't really be certain on the other vaccine you're referring to, but certainly it's not an advantage to use an adjuvant that was known to give very significant local and systemic adjuvant reactions for a fragile patient group like maternal. So we feel very bullish that we are the main vaccine in the maternal with only that have a bivalent model, strong data behind it, and look very much forward to the readout.
spk04: Yes, sir. The operator, please move to the next call, please.
spk02: Your next question comes from the line of Colin Bristow with UBS.
spk16: Good morning, and thanks for taking the questions. And I wanted to say all the best to Frank. So a couple of my friends, on the business development front, could you comment on how large a deal you would be willing to consider? And is there a preference for marketed assets or pipeline or some combination of the two? And then just in terms of disease spaces, Yeah, I'd be curious to hear how you view the rare disease category as an area of potential business development from here. And then just a quick one on PaxCovid. You know, understanding your prior comments, but I just want to get a sense here on, you know, what is the risk that, you know, we end 22 and obviously the doses have been purchased, but are essentially stockpiled or not utilized, which could subsequently impact 23 onwards. Thanks a lot.
spk04: Thank you very much. But why don't we start with the BD questions, and I will ask Amir Malik to speak about it.
spk07: Amir Malik- Colin, thanks for your question. On our BD focus, I think we've been very clear that compounds that have the potential to be breakthroughs is where our focus is. And these can be in the form of late-stage clinical development. It can be in earlier medical innovations as well, as well as early launches. We're going to bias to the TAs where we have scientific and commercial expertise because we can add value, and we're going to be flexible on deal structures. And on your question on size, we've been very clear in the past that we're agnostic on size, but we're not going to focus on deals where cost synergies are the primary source of value creation. We're going to focus on deals where we can add value, we have a scope to have impact, and where there's going to be revenue impact in the 25 to 30 time period. So that is our current focus.
spk04: Thank you very much, Amir. And as we said also multiple times, it is important to see Pfizer as a partner of choice also. So it is important to see Pfizer as the company that can add value either by acquiring or by partnering molecules with companies to the same extent that we have proven with other biotechs. that we can provide benefits to patients by putting our capabilities into work. And that, I think, it is the way moving forward. And clearly, we are focusing on filling the gap between 25 and 30. We started this call again by making, myself making comments that we reiterate that we plan to have 25 billions of risk-adjusted revenues with analyst expectations by the year 2030. And we feel that we are moving Now, let me turn to Angela to speak a little bit about Pax Clovis and the question about is there any risk that the quantities that will be purchased will not be utilized?
spk03: I think when we think about our contracts and what has been purchased, we also think a lot about demand, like generating demand and utilizing the product. And I think that the US gives us a good example of what you can see when utilization and adoption picks up. You heard from Albert's opening presentation that just in the last few weeks, we saw the prescriptions of Paxlovis grow 10 times. And just in one week alone, it got as high as 80,000 prescriptions that were dispensed. You also heard that there are 30,000 sites that are available now in the US that dispense Paxlovis, and that is increasing. you know, deep dive to those test-to-treat sites, which were only 1,100 at the beginning of April and now have doubled to 2,000. And you add upon that the U.S. government's announcement around their focus on increasing more sites. You know, all of this is, you know, showing us that momentum around Paxlovid is real and that there are a few sort of like key levers that open up this access. One is the number of sites and the proximity to patients And two, it's the education around how to use Paxlobin and who are the patients that are eligible. And so when you think about what has happened in the US, you now are beginning to see that happen around the world as well. We see that demand is increasing. You heard Albert speak about how countries that have purchased from us are now coming back with reorders. You're also seeing across many countries how they are changing the eligibility for criteria for Paxlovid as well as the number of sites where Paxlovid can be accessed, much like what we're seeing here in the US. So I think when you add all of this up, what we are seeing is the fact that there is demand for this product. You know, we also see that the social, you know, the removal of the mask mandate, the social distancing requirements that have been removed. You also know that in the EU that just in the last week they've removed the emergency, you know, the emergency period of the EUA. That means that people are going to get out there. We know with all of that, infections are going to increase, and that's the role that Paxlovid can play. So we're intently focused on working with national governments, state governments, and in helping them to educate, to take great lessons learned from around all the different countries, to help them to utilize Paxlovid. And importantly, what we're also seeing is that it's not as, we don't have any inventory on hand. Every dose that we produce is being shipped out and is being ordered. So I think all of these give us a lot of confidence that there is a demand for Paxlovid. We know what we need to do to support the utilization of Paxlovid, and we'll continue to drive that throughout the year as we anticipate further surges in COVID infections.
spk04: Thank you, Angela. And also what Angela said, I want to reiterate that unlike what we have seen with the patterns of vaccines that the governments were trying because of lack of manufacturing capacity to build stocks. Right now, the orders that we are coming are orders not for the entire year. They are orders for the immediate needs of the countries. And this is why we have repeated orders of countries. That's across mainly all countries that we see internationally. Okay, thank you very much. Let's move to the next question, please.
spk02: Your next question comes from the line of Carter Gold with Barclays.
spk05: Great. Good morning, and best of luck to his post-Pfizer endeavors. I appreciate all the color on Paxil right there. Maybe moving to the pipeline, in highlighting your UC franchise, the slides, you focused on Atrasimod, and notably didn't mention your TL1A program. Has your enthusiasm there shifted now that you have the induction data in-house? And on the IRAC4 side, I saw the discontinuation in HS. Has that changed in any way how we should think about development in RA? I believe that got removed from your early stage readout calendar. Thank you. Thank you very much, Carter. Michael, the floor is yours.
spk11: Yeah, you know, I did speak about that the Tresumod creates a very rounded and comprehensive pipeline. I think the T1A data that we have in our hands, and it will be, I shared earlier at previous earnings calls some of it, It's very strong. Actually, to the best of my knowledge, in the biomarker-selected group, it's probably the strongest or among the very strongest that I have seen. I think it can be a very much complementary drug to atrazomod. And we also know that the T1A principle not just is anti-inflammatory, but also play a role in fibrosis. We didn't have much time to speak about ritlicitinib beyond our real exciting data that we shared in vitiligo. We also have additional inflammatory drugs that are coming to readouts with strong data behind them for potential start of pivotal, such as in different beta in inflammatory muscle diseases. So I would just say we have the advantage of a richness now of inflammatory drugs and really building a pipeline with complementary approaches. And we hope to share more which of the ones that will be kicked off soonest from the many options that we now have on our hands. But T1A, clearly a very active drug. Thank you. Next question, please.
spk02: Your next question comes from the line of Andrew Baum with Citi.
spk13: Thank you. A couple of questions, please. Firstly, Pfizer is the leader in cardiology, thrombosis, and hemostasis. Four of your competitors have factor XIa inhibitors in clinical development. There are still significant unmet needs in thrombosis despite the NOACs. I'm curious as to why you've passed on the opportunity and what data would make you change your mind or review your decision. And then the second question is, going back to the barriers to Paxlovid adoption that have existed historically, you've addressed addressing the access barriers, but in terms of physician education and holding back prescribing because of fear of supply, patient awareness, how would you delineate the percentage contribution of those to the current underutilization of Paxlovid? And what do you think of the timelines for knocking down the separate reasons? Thank you.
spk04: Thank you. Michael, why don't you take the cardiology question?
spk11: Yeah, you know, first of all, you know, we think the breakthrough with Eloquist, the NOACs, was so dramatic for patients and physicians Warfarin, which, you know, had many issues of significance, including a very complicated dosing and risk for bleeding. While we monitor new drug classes, including the one that you have mentioned, we really want to see a similar step up in breakthrough potential as we saw with Eliquis. And we haven't yet been convinced about that step up, but we are carefully monitoring and Internal medicine and cardiometabolic diseases is an area that we think are very interesting, and you, of course, heard us speak about oral GLIP-1 as another very important growth area.
spk04: Thank you, Michael. And then, Angela, what about the education that you plan to do alone or with governments to address other barriers of X-clob, like the perception that it's not available or other stuff that Andrew spoke about?
spk03: Well, education is key, and it underpins the promotion of all of our products. But I think the first comment I have to make is that you all know we're under an EUA. And in this EUA, we are limited by what we are allowed to talk about, and also limited by the level of promotion that we would typically do. And that's why you see that much of the education that is occurring right now is coming from the government, whether that's the CDC, or at the state level, state departments of health, and how they've chosen to roll out the messages regarding antiviral treatment. Of course, we're supplementing that by what we can do. We've put public service announcements out there. We've utilized our field force in the appropriate way to convey what we're able to through an EUA. And there is just a significant amount of medical education as well that we are doing, again, also in an EUA appropriate way to support our brand. But of course, this doesn't look anything like what we would typically do if we had a full commercial launch where we would have where we would have the ability to really deploy the entirety of our promotional engine towards education and towards support of both patients and physicians. So I would say that the education is happening and we are doing our part. And I think that there is a lot more that can be done. But I think the second part of your question was also around how much does this contribute to the bigger issue And I want to say that truly the ability to access this product quickly is one that even though there's been great improvements, I think that there's still a long way to go. Even with all the improvements that we have had recently, we're still a fraction, I would say under half of all the possible retail locations where Paxlovid could be found. So it's tremendous that we're seeing this uplift, but I would say that we need to continue on the path of where we've been and continue to do more, because there's still a lot more that can be done.
spk04: Thank you, Angela. And of course, I wanted also to add that I have also never seen the government being so active. They truly believe that it is a way to control hospitalizations and deaths. And we see that their own educational campaigns are working. Because as we have seen, there is a tenfold increase just in a few weeks. And I think that, together with all the measures that they are taking, I think will yield even more impressive results. I'm confident. Let's go to the next question, please.
spk02: Your next question comes from the line of Chris Schott with JP Morgan.
spk21: Great. Thanks very much. Just two additional Paxlovid ones. I think in this question of kind of contracting, it seems like we saw a lot of activity late last year, early this year, but it's been a bit more quiet, I guess, more recently on the contracting front. So I know you're expecting more contracts for PaxLivid, but just qualitatively, can you just give us a sense of how broad of a swath of the market has already entered in contracts that are going to satisfy demand this year? relative to how large of a portion of, I guess, a realistic global market are still in negotiations and still need to come up with some agreements. I'm just trying to get a sense of, like, what does the TAM look like versus what's been contracted? And then my second, just one on PaxLivid was, there seems to have been several data points of kind of PaxLivid, I guess, like kind of COVID rebound occurring in some patients. Is that something you're seeing in your data? And just how are you thinking about it kind of addressing that as we kind of learn more about the longer-term outcomes in some patients there? Thanks so much.
spk04: Oh, thank you very much, Chris. Excellent question. Angela, what about our contracting?
spk03: Well, I have to say that I'm really pleased with how our contracting has gone. You heard Albert talk about the 100 countries that we are engaging with. And actually, compared to where we were last quarter, we've made some really nice and significant progress. In terms of the number of countries, just to give you a sense, we've actually, when we think about the 22 billion in guidance, right, plus the 500 that we're absorbing from foreign exchange, when you think about that part of revenue, it really consists of countries that we have finalized contracts with as well as countries that we anticipate to close, you know, anticipate to close shortly. So there are sort of two buckets of countries in there. And what I'm happy to say is that compared to where we were in the first quarter, we are three times larger in terms of the number of countries that have actually finalized contracts. So that's the first thing. But in addition to that, we have bilaterals that have either been completed or about to be completed with 60 countries. And that doesn't count the multilateral agreements that we're also having. You heard about UNICEF earlier today from Albert. We have others as well in the works. So I think when you think about the total addressable market, as you say, I think that we are not done, but we have combed through a large proportion of them, and that gives me great confidence in our ability to meet the guidance that we've provided you.
spk04: And also, I want to reemphasize that what is different with the PaxClovic contracts is that we sign a contract. Typically, they start with smaller volumes, and then they keep ordering and reordering. It's very important to have their But they are ordering based on the needs rather than based on the anticipation to build stocks, which that also by itself shows that with the same contract you expect more, because it's not that they cover the whole year. But of course, all will depend on the usage in the field. We are optimistic, but we need to see how the usage in the field will go. William, would you want to take the COVID rebound?
spk09: Sure. So we take very seriously the case reports that have been anecdotal so far in terms of potential rebound and symptoms after treatment with exlobit. To respond to that, we've taken some preliminary look at our epic high-risk data. And so we've seen, for example, that we've had an incidence of about 2% of that viral load rebound. But we also see the same or close to the same percent in the placebo arm. So it's something that's not particularly associated with Paxlovid, but may have something to do with the virus itself. We've also looked for patient characteristics and potential recurrence of severe symptoms, and we haven't seen any association with patient characteristics or severe symptoms developing in patients who rebound. And then finally, we haven't seen any association with mutations in MPRO, which is the target of Paxlovid. So it's preliminary data so far. We, again, take it very seriously, but it's occurring at a very low incidence, and we continue to learn as we go along.
spk04: Michael, any thoughts on that?
spk11: That was a very good response from Will. So I'll just add, as we do surveillance of patients in very large databases, and we have access to more than 300,000 Paxlovi treated in one of the databases, have reports of this happening in less in about 0.005 percent or less which is less than one out of three thousand treated patients so overall it's uh quite uncommon but as will spoke about it it's not really related to pexlovid but more to the individuals that in the end need to clear the virus and it is a virus that can either reinfect patients or there can be reservoirs left in the patient. Now, what we also learn is that for some patients, immunocompromised may carry this virus for a very, very long time. And we see that area as a real new opportunity growth area for Paxlovid to do very well, where you may need to take multiple courses over a year or even treat with extended duration. And that's something we're now planning to study in order to expand the use of Paxlovid where it may be the most appropriate and life-saving drug.
spk04: And as Michael said, the work of Pax Clovid is to reduce the viral load and as a result help your body overcome the disease faster and without serious consequences. It could be that in some cases there is a rebound, which is why the label speaks about the second treatment that can be given. And also we need to think that by reducing, and it seems in all these cases that have been reported that Paxlovid did what they're supposed to do, which is reduce the virus load because they became negative. So then they came back. I can only imagine if without the help of Paxlovid, what would be the clinical symptoms of the patients that eventually is coming back. So let's not forget this for people that they're already sick and we help them go easy with their disease, easier than without the Paxlovid. And so far it's working extremely well. Let's go to the next question, please.
spk02: Your next question comes from the line of Tim Anderson with Wolf Research.
spk12: Hi, I have a couple of questions. Prevnar, 20 in pediatrics, franchise, PEDS is 75% of current usage. It looks like the readout of your PEDS trials has slipped from first half to second half. I'm wondering if you can explain why and if that impacts your confidence in the readout at all. Second question, your biosimilars are growing. Your press release mentions interchangeable Humira. We have no real precedent with Part D biosimilars in the U.S. My view has been that AbbVie is going to hold onto more shares than what they've been guiding for. But as you're on the other side of this, I'd love to get your perspective. I know your launch is a year away. But what are your expectations for uptake in the U.S. for biosimilar Humira, whether it's yours or anyone else's, and how do you think that will compare to what we've seen with biosimilars with Part B drugs like Avastin?
spk04: Thank you. Michael, program to end it?
spk11: Yeah. You know, it's a very minor shift. were predicting earlier mid of the year and we now see it will come in the second half not too far away from our original prediction is what i believe and it was just affected by covid and the ease of which we could get infants vaccinated so overall you know on track for readout We had a very good readout with the adult. I have no reason to believe that we won't have also very good performance in the clinical trial or the pediatric. Thank you. What about the uptake of . Angela.
spk03: So, you know, we are optimistic about the uptake of biosimilars. You know, I think we've learned a lot over the last several years. And you look at our experience with Inflectra. You look at our experience recently with our six biosimilars in oncology. And they've gained tremendous market share. I think that physicians and institutions have become extremely comfortable with the use of biosimilars. You know, if I compare my experience with Inflectra when that was first launched, or Infleximab, and I compare that to what I see now with the six biosimilars we just launched in oncology, very different experiences in terms of willingness, in terms of uptake, and comfort for physicians to use it. So I think we're very far from where we were when we first launched our first biosimilars here in the U.S., That coupled with the interchangeability data should mean that we would be able to gain, you know, a fair market share.
spk04: Thank you. Next question, please.
spk02: Your next question comes from the line of Jeff Meacham with Bank of America.
spk22: Hi, this is Alex Hammond. I'm for Jeff Meacham. Thanks for taking our questions. Maybe to follow up on a previous response, what's the tax load capacity like? To what extent is guidance potentially constrained by any limiting factor, whether in terms of production or potentially distribution? In other words, if the contracts were there, to what extent do you think they could address the near term? And then can you maybe comment on the pace of business development? As you think about some of your longer-term growth targets and where you sit now, those gaps, are you still comfortable with the current trajectory? Thank you very much.
spk04: On the capacity, we are on plan. So we will make 30 million treatments available this year. Excuse me, this June, the first half of the year. We have already built our capacity. We can make 120 million by the end of the year. I don't think, given this very high ramp-up, that capacity will become a limiting factor to governments to place orders And anyway, as we see, we don't have situations that they are placing orders that they keep in their warehouse. So they are placing orders so that they can use it. So it's always manageable reordering. And we will be able to meet this demand. Particularly, we are cognizant that waves are coming so far not necessarily in terms of seasonality, but everybody expects that when you come after mass gatherings in the summer or as we are entering into the flu season, there will be, let's say, dramatic uptake. So in that period of time, we will have really a lot of tax credit available, so I don't foresee any issues on that. And then on the... What was the second question? Pace of business development. the pace of business development.
spk07: Amir, do you want to take that? Sure. Alex, thanks for the question. You heard Albert very clearly reiterate our commitment to the $25 billion in risk-adjusted revenue by 2030, and we fully believe that we can and will get there. We're going to be very active in BD, and that also means being thoughtful and thorough and disciplined. So when we see a great opportunity, we're not going to hesitate to move fast, and I think some of our recent deals are good examples of that, and our Reviral acquisition is a good example of our first move towards that goal. And at the same time, we're not going to be hurried or cavalier just for the sake of doing deals quickly. So we will move fast, we will be thoughtful, we will be disciplined, and we are very confident in the aspiration that we've put out.
spk04: And I want once more to reiterate, We truly think there is substrate to do good deals that will provide us 30 billion risk adjustment. But we are going to be very disciplined. We can accomplish them. I will accomplish all of that without compromising on financial returns that are expected. And we truly feel that we can accomplish both and we will accomplish, of course, in the next few years we need to do to complete. this activity so that we will be able to have an impact in the 25 to 2030 period of time. But I reiterate, there is substrate to do good deals, and we will do a lot, but only good deals. 25 billion by 2030. 25 billion by 2030. What did I say? You said 30 billion. Ah, 25 billion by 2030, not 30 billion. By 2025. So, let's go to the next question.
spk02: Your final question comes from the line of Robin Karnasas with Truist Securities.
spk20: Hi, guys. Thanks for taking my question. So, just first on Paxlovid contracts, you'd mentioned that there's a bucket of contracts where you're further away from signing. Can you just give a little bit more color on what the rate limiting steps are for signing in those countries or signing those contracts? Are they in areas where there's less infection, for example? And then second, on the booster, just a follow-up question. It seems like there's a lot of, you know, debate about how long the immunity lasts with the boosters. And so how far away do you think we are scientifically from a longer-lasting mRNA booster? Thanks.
spk04: Fantastic questions. Angela, what about the contracts?
spk03: So they're not infection-related. It literally is just time.
spk04: um you know we have many countries to get to and each one of them have their own internal process to um you know that they need to go through so there really is nothing here other than just getting through it and time thank you angela on on the booster let me make also some final comments because you are on time and also try to answer that one uh clearly call it it is a main uncertainty for the world and for the companies that they are trying to make a difference with COVID. But I think we don't know the future, but there are some scenarios that they are the most likely. I believe that the most likely scenario that you should be seeing right now, it is that the virus will be around and the virus will mutate. And we know that the characteristic of this virus is in addition to mutations, it is that doesn't produce long lasting immune protection, not only through vaccinations, but also through natural infection. People that are getting sick, they will get sicker, they can get again sick with different or with the same variant. We know that after some time. The second thing that we know it is that the social distancing measures that were the main way to control the disease spread in the first two years of the pandemic will ease. It is happening. Because now health authorities, they do have a treatment in their hand, which they can count, so they can release, let's say, the measures. They are not as skeptical as before to see overwhelming of hospitals. But also, it is happening because the societies are pushing for that. So there is a tremendous pressure across the world to get our lives back. As a result of these things, it's very clear that we will have waves. that will be more and more will be affecting people. And for that, we need to have constant vaccinations, compliance with the vaccinations, and an effective treatment. Right now, people, it's clear that they are skeptical in vaccines. But it's not clear if they will be needed to take another one and another one. People are tired from the repeated booster. So it is extremely important to come to a vaccine that could be a yearly vaccine. To that is not technically easy to achieve. It is challenging. But we are having very good scientific leads on that. So we are working on that. So when it comes to vaccines, I think this is what needs to be the next steps to be able to stay ahead of the virus, which we are in terms of the new variants, but also try to go to the next generation that will be here with vaccines. And, of course, when it comes to the treatments, we need to make sure that we go with the manufacturing and the availability because the usage, unfortunately, I expect the need, let me put it that way, the need, unfortunately, I think will increase as we are moving to less social distancing measures. And that's our reality. So that's how I wanted to answer the booster question in terms of a long-acting booster. And I want also to thank you everyone for today's call. We are seeing very strong signs of increasing demands for PaxClovid. It remains one of the best tools we have. I'm proud to have been able to recruit some of the best and brightest external minds. to add to our talented roster of people. I'm proud that we have been named the most patient-centric company based on feedback from more than 2,000 patient organizations and associations. It's a testament to the important and innovative work our colleagues do every day in pursuit of our purpose. And I want to close once more by thanking Frank about his tremendous contributions and his friendship to not only me, but many of the executives at Pfizer and wish him well in his after-Pfizer life, although, as he said, he remains a major shareholder, so he will be attending everything that's happening here with a lot of attention. Thank you very much, everyone.
spk02: This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.
Disclaimer

This conference call transcript was computer generated and almost certianly contains errors. This transcript is provided for information purposes only.EarningsCall, LLC makes no representation about the accuracy of the aforementioned transcript, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the information provided by the transcript.

-

-