Vaccines pushes Pfizer beyond expectations in final quarter

By TOM MURPHY
AP Health Writer

COVID-19 vaccine sales boosted Pfizer earnings well past fourth-quarter expectations, but the drugmaker has set a lower-than-expected bar for 2022. Pfizer’s annual forecasts for both earnings and revenue fall short of analyst expectations even as the drugmaker expects another robust year of sales from its vaccine, Comirnaty, and its new coronavirus treatment, Paxlovid. Pfizer expects Comirnaty to bring in another $32 billion in sales in 2022, while Wall Street is looking for more than $34 billion. Both the company and the Street expect another $22 billion in sales from Paxlovid, which received U.S. authorization shortly before Christmas.