illustration photo (Photo credits: Adobe Stock – )
(AOF) – BioNTech has announced the delivery of two vaccines adapted to the Omicron variant from October at the same time as recall campaigns will be held using doses targeting this same variant. Pending regulatory approval, BioNTech said its two tailored vaccines would be available in time for campaigns.
In addition, BioNTech reaffirmed its sales forecast for vaccines in 2022, i.e. 13 to 17 billion euros, against 19 billion last year. Its partner Pfizer forecasts $32 billion in sales of COVID-19 vaccines for the year.
In the second quarter, BioNTech posted revenue and net profit of €3.2 billion and €1.672 billion, or €6.45 per share, respectively. Analysts were targeting revenue of 3.89 billion and EPS of 7.08 euros.
“With our strong year-to-date performance, we believe we are on track to meet our previous financial guidance for the current fiscal year. We expect demand to increase in our key markets in the fourth quarter of 2022, subject to regulatory approval,” said Jens Holstein, CFO of BioNTech.
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An inevitable race for new blockbusters
The patent for Merck’s star product, the cancer drug Keytruda, which accounts for more than 35% of its sales, expires in 2028. Despite the loss, since 2019, of the patents for its three star products (Avastin, Herceptine, Rituxan) Roche was able to renew its portfolio by bringing new molecules to market. However, the discovery and launch of new drugs are increasingly expensive. AstraZeneca spends about $6 billion a year on R&D in a pharmaceutical industry where the life of a patent only lasts ten to fifteen years. This leads laboratories to withdraw from certain activities. Thus J&J, Pfizer, GSK and, no doubt, Novartis soon prefer to refocus on specialty drugs and abandon any ancillary activity.