NEW YORK – Pfizer on Tuesday reported $2.89 billion in third quarter revenues from its oncology products, a 6 percent decrease from $3.07 billion in the same period last year with decreased sales of several targeted therapies including Ibrance (palbociclib), Xalkori (crizotinib), and Braftovi (encorafenib).
For the three months ended Sept. 30, Pfizer reported $13.23 billion in overall revenues, a 42 percent decrease compared to Q3 2022 revenues of $22.64 billion, driven largely by declines in COVID-19 products. When its COVID-19 products are excluded, Pfizer's revenues grew $1.1 billion, or 10 percent, operationally. The firm beat analysts' average revenue estimate of $12.72 billion for Q3.
Sales of Pfizer's CDK4/6 inhibitor for breast cancer, Ibrance, declined by 3 percent in Q3 to $1.24 billion from $1.28 billion in Q3 2022.
It's first-generation ALK inhibitor Xalkori for lung cancer also saw revenues decline to $86 million from $118 million in the same period last year, a 27 percent drop. Meanwhile, its newer ALK inhibitor Lorbrena (lorlatinib) continued to see growth with revenues rising 66 percent year over year to $159 million from Q3 2022 revenues of $99 million.
Pfizer's BRAF and MEK inhibitor combination for BRAF V600E-mutant colorectal cancer and melanoma, Braftovi and Mektovi (binimetinib), also saw a slight decline in the third quarter. Braftovi sales were $56 million versus $58 million in Q3 2022, a 3 percent decrease, while Mektovi sales were flat at $45 million.
In Q3, Pfizer also gained a new approval in the US for its tyrosine kinase inhibitor Bosulif (bosutinib) as a treatment for newly diagnosed pediatric patients with chronic phase, Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia.
Pfizer executives said on a call to discuss the Q3 results that its proposed $43 billion acquisition of Seagen is expected to close in late 2023 or early 2024. Earlier this month, the deal was approved by the European Commission. The firm has raised $31 billion in acquisition financing so far, according to Pfizer CFO David Denton.
Chris Boshoff, chief oncology research and development officer at Pfizer, said the firm is confident in Seagen's pipeline of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), including anti-HER2 breast and colorectal cancer therapy Tukysa (tucatinib), lymphoma treatment Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin), Padcev (enfortumab vedotin-ejfv) for bladder cancer, and Tivdak (tisotumab vedotin-tftv) for cervical cancer.
"There's a significant interest now in ADCs because of the potential that they could replace most of the chemotherapeutics in the future for most cancer types," Boshoff said. "Seagen has a significant track record with four currently approved ADCs and three potential registration-based trials [of these products] that just read out."
In Q3, Pfizer's R&D spending increased 1 percent to $2.71 billion compared to $2.70 billion in the prior year. The drugmaker spent $3.28 billion on selling, informational, and administrative expenses, down 3 percent from $3.39 billion in Q3 2022.
Pfizer recorded a net loss of $2.38 billion in Q3 2023, or $.42 per share, compared to net income of $8.61 billion, or $1.51 per share, in Q3 2022. The adjusted loss per share was $.17, missing Wall Street analysts' average estimate for a loss of $.32 per share.