Pfizer is betting big on cancer drugs after Covid decline

Pfizer is ready to move on from Covid. 

Now, the company is betting on cancer drugs to help it regain its footing after a rocky year marked by the rapid decline of its Covid business. It just might take a while before that bet pays off. 

Pfizer pitched its deeper push into oncology during a four-hour investor event last week. And it had a splashy 60-second Super Bowl ad that touted its initiative to “outdo cancer.” 

The shift comes at a crucial time for Pfizer. The pharmaceutical giant has been trying to shore up investor sentiment after its shares fell more than 40% in 2023. That share drop erased more than $100 billion in Pfizer’s market value.

Along with plummeting demand for its Covid products, Pfizer disappointed Wall Street last year with the underwhelming launch of a new RSV shot, a twice-daily weight loss pill that fell short in clinical trials and a 2024 forecast that missed expectations. The company has launched a $4 billion cost-cutting program, laying off hundreds of employees and shaving down its research and development spending. 

During the investor day, Pfizer laid out its priorities now that it has fully integrated with the targeted cancer drugmaker Seagen. That $43 billion Seagen acquisition doubled Pfizer’s oncology drug pipeline to 60 different experimental programs. 

With Seagen under its belt, Pfizer says its drug pipeline could produce at least eight blockbuster medicines by 2030, up from just five today. But the company did not disclose which drugs it believes could offer that potential. 

Some analysts noted that it might take a few years for some of Pfizer’s cancer drugs in mid-stage development to show pivotal clinical trial data and become less risky. 

Pfizer’s existing oncology portfolio is also facing some competitive pressure. Revenue from the blockbuster breast cancer drug Ibrance and prostate cancer treatment Xtandi, which Pfizer shares with Astellas Pharma, has declined over the past year. Both…