Pfizer and Moderna are expecting $32 billion and $19 billion, respectively, in COVID-19 vaccine sales this year, CNBC reported March 3.
The expectations are based on fourth-quarter earnings statements the companies released this month.
Four more notes:
1. The projections reflect minimum sales, based on contracts the drugmakers have already signed with countries anticipating their vaccine needs for the year. Sales could ultimately be higher by the end of the year depending on additional purchase agreements.
2. Pfizer and Moderna raised their projections by $1 billion and $2 billion, respectively, from forecasts given in the third quarter.
3. In 2021, Pfizer — which shares vaccine profits equally with partner BioNTech — sold $36.7 billion of its COVID-19 vaccine worldwide. Moderna, for which the vaccine is its only currently available commercial product, sold $17.7 billion globally.
4. There is debate among analysts in terms of what future vaccine demand will look like.
"The market continues to debate the ultimate trajectory of the demand for boosting during 2022 and for 2023 and beyond," Michael Yee, an analyst at investment banking company Jefferies, told CNBC. "There is a sense that we are working our way out of a pandemic and more into an endemic [phase], where we have seen the peak behind us."
In an endemic market, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel has said he expects countries will want to secure supply for annual booster campaigns.
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