The fastest research laboratories and manufacturing capacity to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic with a vaccine are beginning to reap the rewards. Five manufacturers have entered 23,103 million euros in the first half thanks to their immunization products against SARS-CoV-2, as reflected in the accounts presented by the companies. These are
Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson (through its
pharmaceutical
subsidiary
Janssen) and AstraZeneca
, the five Western listed companies that bear the largest distribution weight in the world.
The last pharmaceutical company to offer the data, yesterday, was
BioNTech
, which shot up its turnover by 10,495%, to
7,356 million
.
Thanks to its first product, this mRNA vaccine, the German biotechnology company manages to go from 142 million losses in the first half of 2020 to 3.915 million in net profit a year later.
These revenues are in addition to those of its US partner
Pfizer,
which
earned 9,607 million
for this product
until June.
Sales for the vaccine accounted for no less than 34% of the entire turnover of the New York giant, which for this reason becomes by far the world's leading laboratory by turnover, leaving behind the Swiss Novartis and Roche.
This vaccine, called Comirnaty, also boosted Pfizer's revenue in the first half of the year by 68%, to 28,545 million, and profit, which rose 53%, to 8,880 million.
Adding the revenues from Pfizer and BioNTech, Comirnaty has become by far the most relevant business, since it contributed to its manufacturers 16,915 million.
Success is justified for several reasons: this option was the first to be approved in the US and Europe;
Laboratories have demonstrated the greatest industrial capacity, and it has also won the trust of governments due to its high efficiency (95%) and greater certainty about possible adverse effects than its rivals.
Moderna has signed contracts for 10,210 million
A similar case has been that of
Moderna
, also with an mRNA solution.
The income of the
American
biotech
skyrocketed 8,260%,
to 5,321 million
, of which almost 95% are explained by the sales of the vaccine.
This product also facilitated the exit of losses and earned 3,400 million.
The figures in this case are not so high because Moderna's industrial capacity is much lower.
In the near future, these alternatives may have even more value for their manufacturers.
Moderna recently announced that by 2022 it has signed contracts for 10,210 million to distribute its product and has another 6,810 million in optional contracts.
Pfizer has
also
revealed that by the end of the year it expects to enter 28,530 million
.
It should also be remembered that these laboratories have received multimillion-dollar injections to develop their vaccines, both from the United States (in Operation Warp Speed), and from the European Union through advances on supply contracts.
Likewise, it has been the governments that have borne the cost of the purchases.
Less relevant to AstraZeneca and Janssen
The last to arrive, with production problems and delays due to the analysis of possible adverse effects, have also seen how they have generated less income.
For
AstraZeneca
, Vaxzevria has only accounted for 984 million (7.5% of its income), although it has achieved that the British sales increase 23%, to 984 million.
In this case, in addition, the company has agreed to market its vaccine at cost, without profit.
In the case of
Johnson & Johnson,
the last to arrive and with production problems in the US, its single-dose version had a turnover of only 224 million, a tiny portion (0.6%) of the revenues of the pharmaceutical and consumer products giant.
They earn 28,606 million
Regarding the net profit of these five companies, as a whole it also shoots up 94%, to 28,606 million.
In the case of Moderna and BioNTech, these profits obviously correspond to the vaccine, since they only market that product.
But in other cases like AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer the relationship is less direct.
Even so, that the profit of this last company grows by 53% can only be explained almost entirely by the vaccine.
BioNTech and Pfizer reach 1 billion distributed doses
The Covid-19 vaccine has launched BioNTech from scratch.
The German biotechnology company, which last year did not have products for sale, expects to enter 15.9 billion euros in 2021 according to the signed contracts it currently has for the distribution of the product, which reach commercial agreements for 2.2 billion doses.
This was highlighted by the company yesterday in its semi-annual results.
Likewise, the biotechnology company announced that together with its partner Pfizer they have already delivered more than 1,000 million doses of this vaccine in the world.
It was the first to be approved in the US and the EU, in December of last year, and it is the most widely distributed in developed countries.
“We and our partner Pfizer have passed the 1 billion dose mark of the Covid-19 vaccine shipped worldwide. We are very proud to have reached this milestone in just six months, "BioNTech CEO and Co-Founder Uğur Şahin said in a statement.
