Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Tuesday the company has been contracted to deliver 1.6 billion doses of its Covid-19 vaccine globally this year, and the company expects to produce at least 3 billion doses of the vaccine in 2022. The company is in discussions with countries for multi-year contracts of potential supply.
Bourla said the company is expecting approximately $26 billion in revenue from its Covid-19 vaccine in 2021.
Pfizer says it’s not yet clear how long the vaccine will protect against Covid-19, but Bourla said demand for the vaccine is expected to remain high. “Based on what we’ve seen, we believe that a durable demand for our COVID-19 vaccine – similar to that of the flu vaccines – is a likely outcome,” Bourla said.
In addition to testing a third dose as a booster against variants, Bourla said, Pfizer is also working on a version of the vaccine that specifically targets the B.1351 variant, which was first identified in South Africa. According to Bourla, efficacy data for both the booster and the B.1351 specific vaccine would be available in early July. He noted that the study design of the B.1351 variant vaccine would potentially be a prototype so that Pfizer could update it to target new variants of concern in approximately 100 days.
Bourla also said the company was working on trialing two antiviral treatments to treat Covid-19, one administered as a shot and the other orally. The company expects to begin phase 2/3 trials of these treatments this summer and anticipates applying for approvals by the end of the year. The treatments will be tested for their efficacy in treating Covid-19 and will be evaluated against the current monoclonal antibody treatment for Covid-19. They will also be tested as a potential prophylaxis, testing in unvaccinated households that have a Covid-19 infection to see if it prevents additional infections.
