As the U.S. approaches an earlier and more severe season of multiple viruses, here's how eight drugmakers ended their third quarter financially:
1. Moderna reported a 69 percent loss, or $1 billion, in net income compared to 2021's third quarter. In the third quarter of 2021, Moderna made $5 billion in revenue, and the company said it gained $3.4 billion this past quarter.
CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a Nov. 3 earnings call that manufacturing its new, bivalent booster shaved its profits because 10 doses used to be packaged, but now the company's selling five doses per vial, "basically doubling the number of vials needed [for] the same number of doses."
"We've had quite a number of pain points with fill-finish manufacturers," Mr. Barcel said during the call. "We are working through a lot of those issues."
2. Pfizer noted "exceptionally strong growth" compared to last year, racking in $22.6 billion in the third quarter. Based on its COVID-19 vaccine sales, Pfizer increased its 2022 projected sales from the product by $2 billion, which sets the forecasted COVID-19 vaccine revenue at $34 billion.
Its third-quarter global revenue fell 6 percent compared to the same period last year because operations to manufacture the COVID-19 vaccine are down 86 percent. However, sales from its antiviral Paxlovid and the bivalent vaccine offset this decline, according to the report.
3. Eli Lilly said its third-quarter revenue rose 2 percent — last year it reported $6.77 billion in sales and this year it grabbed $6.94 billion. Foreign exchange rates stymied its sales by 4 percent, but volume for its main products was responsible for 70 percent of its revenue.
4. Merck's revenue grew 14 percent to $14.96 billion in its third quarter, which was mostly because sales for Keytruda, its cancer drug, increased20 percent to more than $5.4 billion. Merck adjusted its forecasts for the year's revenue to be between $58.5 billion and $59 billion. Its pharmaceutical sales increased 13 percent to $13 billion.
5. Teva Pharmaceuticals reported an 8 percent loss in its third quarter, with revenue ending at $3.6 billion, which it cited as a result of less generic sales. The pharmaceutical company said exchange rates "negatively impacted our revenues by $215 million compared to the third quarter of 2021."
6. GSK said it made $7.8 billion in third-quarter sales, a 9 percent increase from last year. Because of its quarter's results, the company revised its 2022 sales projection by 8 to 10 percent.
7. Johnson & Johnson reported a 2 percent boost in global sales, and its U.S. market noted a 4.1 percent increase in revenue. J&J made $23.8 billion in its third quarter, with its medtech and pharmaceutical sectors leading the results.
8. Bristol Myers Squibb saw a 3 percent decrease in its revenue from making $11.6 billion in 2021's third quarter to $11.2 billion this past quarter. Similar to other drugmakers, Bristol Myers Squibb said foreign market rates and less demand for generics dragged its overall profits down.