Pfizer, this name was all around the globe when the COVID-19 pandemic shrouded the world and its senses, as the American pharma giant was one of the first names to find a breakthrough to get the world out of the pandemic. According to many observers, apart from pulling the world out of the crisis and saving many lives, this was also the company's once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reap its golden crops.
The Pandemic Jump
And that is precisely what came to pass as well. The company added revenue of over USD 81 billion in 2021, a year after the beginning of the pandemic. This is far greater than the revenue in 2020, when the revenue generated was at USD 41 billion; this marked a mammoth doubling of the revenue figures. The revenue figures were also 58 per cent higher than the figures attained in 2019.
This wave of fortune only zoomed further when the company's revenue figures galloped into newer territories when it touched the USD 100 billion mark in 2022, when the vaccine rollouts were going into full swing.
Post Pandemic Dip
As the pandemic waned, so did the pharmacy flourish for Pfizer. The company's revenue plummeted by half, collapsing to around USD 58 billion.
The company added revenue of over USD 81 billion in 2021, a year after the beginning of the pandemic. | Photo: Representative Image
According to a report from the Financial Times, the company now is less than worth what it was before the pandemic.
One of its major competitors and, arguably, the largest pharma in the world, Eli Lily has only strengthened its dominance. In fact, in many ways, there is no match between the two. On the list of the companies with the biggest market capitalisation, Eli Lily holds a towering position at number 11, with a market cap of nearly USD 840 billion. This is miles away from Pfizer, which is 90th on the list with a meagre USD 165.24 of market cap.
Other companies like the European Novo Nordisk, America's own Johnson & Johnson, Roche and Abbott are miles ahead of Pfizer, with a far bigger market cap. This is despite Pfizer having a 9 per cent market share, also of 2022. As per Statista, its American rival Eli Lily has a market share of 3 per cent, which is lower than Johnson & Johnson.
Pfizer at the Wall Street
It is not just the market cap, but the company's stock market performance also has not been reliable. As though a mirror reflection of its revenue numbers, the company has declined in value over the recent past.
Just in the past five trading sessions alone, the company has lost 0.82 per cent of its value.
Things appear even more red in the larger picture, as in the past year of trade, the stock price of the pharmaceutical company has dropped a mammoth 9.19 per cent or USD 2.95 in value, bringing the value of the shares down to USD 29.16.
Eli Lily Shares
When we drew the comparison of this performance to the one exhibited by Eli Lily, the company shares have grown by 4.49 per cent or USD 40.06, in the past 5 trading sessions.
In the past 6 months, the growth is a mammoth 24.15 per cent. And unlike Pfizer, Eli Lilly's share rocketed in value by a colossal 53.00 per cent or USD 322.86, in the past year of trading, taking the overall value of the shares to USD 932.06, as of October 13.
The Problems Of Pfizer
Earlier this year, the New York-based company was accused of bringing disrepute to the industry. In April 2024, the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA) discovered that the multinational pharmaceutical company had five instances of regulatory code violations and advertised unlicensed medications.
In the same month, British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline took the American company to court. GSK sued Pfizer along with its German collaborator Biontech over the technology used in the COVID-19 vaccines.
The trail of mistrust also found its way into governmental bodies, including the European Union, particularly the European Commission. Just last week, the commission's head, Ursula von der Leyen, had to issue a clarification or rather defence, on the alleged lack of transparency in the affairs of the COVID-19 vaccines. Here, in what is being called the Pfizergate, the two entities (von der Leyen and the company representatives) have been accused of exchanging messages. The EU court is set to hear the matter in November.
Apart from mistrust in the larger pharmaceutical world and Pfizer's own action, there is another factor that is now being cited by some observers. As one health scare (COVID) moves away from our memories, the focus on the existing epidemic of obesity has magnified. Pfizer has not been able to arrive at a landmark juncture with its experiments with its own anti-obesity drug, Danuglipron.
Pfizer has not been able to find a major break after the pandemic windfall and perhaps an overreliance on the success of the vaccines, perhaps the apparent failure of Pfizer in producing an anti-obesity drug.
While Eli Lily has the injectable Zepbound. Roche is working on CT-996. UK-based AstraZeneca is also working on ECC5004. In fact, recently, the aforementioned Novo Nordisk also hit a goldmine with its Ozempic injectables. Meanwhile, Pfizer does not have much to show, further bringing down investor confidence. It is not alone here, as, according to reports, even Johnson & Johnson, another company often mired in controversies, has not made its foray into the anti-obesity drug business.
