Earnings call transcript: Pfizer’s Q3 2025 EPS beats expectations, stock dips

Pfizer Inc. reported its third-quarter 2025 earnings, showcasing an adjusted diluted EPS of $0.87, surpassing the forecast of $0.66 by a significant margin. However, revenue fell slightly short of expectations at $16.7 billion, compared to the projected $16.8 billion. Despite the earnings beat, Pfizer’s stock experienced a pre-market dip of 1.05%, reflecting investor concerns over revenue shortfalls and broader market conditions.

Key Takeaways

• Adjusted diluted EPS for Q3 2025 exceeded forecasts, reaching $0.87.
• Revenue declined by 7% operationally year-over-year, totaling $16.7 billion.
• Non-COVID products showed growth, with notable performance from Nurtec and Vyndaqel.
• Stock price fell by 1.05% in pre-market trading despite the earnings beat.
• Full-year 2025 EPS guidance was raised to $3.00-$3.15.

Company Performance

Pfizer’s overall performance in Q3 2025 highlighted a mixed picture. The company achieved an EPS that outperformed market expectations, indicating strong profitability management. However, the 7% operational decrease in revenues year-over-year points to challenges, particularly with COVID-19 product demand waning. Growth in non-COVID products, such as Nurtec and Vyndaqel, provided some positive momentum, but was not enough to offset the overall revenue decline.

Financial Highlights

• Revenue: $16.7 billion (7% operational decrease YoY)
• Earnings per share: $0.87 (exceeded forecast by 31.82%)
• Non-COVID product growth: 4% operationally

Earnings vs. Forecast

Pfizer’s Q3 2025 EPS of $0.87 surpassed the forecast of $0.66, marking a 31.82% positive surprise. This significant beat indicates effective cost management and operational efficiencies. However, the revenue of $16.7 billion fell short of the $16.8 billion forecast, reflecting a slight miss due to reduced COVID-19 product sales.

Market Reaction

Despite the strong EPS performance, Pfizer’s stock fell by 1.05% in pre-market trading to $24.40. This decline may be attributed to the revenue shortfall and broader market conditions. The stock remains within its 52-week range, reflecting cautious investor sentiment amid market volatility.

Outlook & Guidance

Pfizer raised its full-year 2025 EPS guidance to a range of $3.00-$3.15, signaling confidence in its profitability. The company expects full-year revenues between $61 billion and $64 billion, with continued focus on non-COVID product growth and operational efficiencies.

Executive Commentary

CEO Albert Bourla expressed optimism, stating, "We are really excited about our future and confident that we are in a strong position to continue delivering value for patients and our shareholders." CFO Dave Denton highlighted the company’s disciplined expense management, noting, "We continue to be disciplined with expense management, progressing multiple cost improvement programs."

Risks and Challenges

• Declining COVID-19 product demand impacting revenue.
• Potential price pressures in the evolving obesity market.
• Macroeconomic uncertainties affecting global operations.
• Competitive pressures from other pharmaceutical companies.
• Ongoing cost management and operational efficiency challenges.

Q&A

During the earnings call, analysts inquired about Pfizer’s strategic moves, including the MedSera acquisition and potential pricing dynamics in the obesity market. Executives defended their acquisition strategy and discussed investment in manufacturing to support future growth initiatives.

Full transcript - Pfizer (PFE) Q3 2025:

Dave Denton, CFO, Pfizer: Good day, everyone, and welcome to Pfizer’s third-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. Today’s call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Francesca DiMartino, Chief Investor Relations Officer and Senior Vice President. Please go ahead, ma’am.

Francesca DiMartino, Chief Investor Relations Officer and Senior Vice President, Pfizer: Good morning and welcome to Pfizer’s earnings call. I’m Francesca DiMartino, Chief Investor Relations Officer. On behalf of the Pfizer team, thank you for joining us. This call is being made available via audio webcast at pfizer.com. Earlier this morning, we released our results for the third quarter of 2025 via a press release that is available on our website at pfizer.com. I’m joined today by Dr. Albert Bourla, our Chairman and CEO, and Dave Denton, our CFO. Albert and Dave have some prepared remarks, and we will then open the call for questions. Members of our leadership team will be available for the Q&A session. Before we get started, I want to remind you that we will be making forward-looking statements and discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures.

I encourage you to read the disclaimers in our slide presentation, the press release we issued this morning, and the disclosures in our SEC filings, which are all available on the IR website on pfizer.com. Forward-looking statements on the call are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties, speak only as of the call’s original date, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any of the statements. With that, I will turn the call over to Albert.

Albert Bourla, Chairman and CEO, Pfizer: Thank you, Francesca. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our call. The past few months have been pivotal for Pfizer. We are really excited about our future and confident that we are in a strong position to continue delivering value for patients and our shareholders. Our third-quarter performance shows how we continued to execute with discipline and focus, even while taking on major strategic efforts. I will discuss highlights, including our agreement with the U.S. government, which has provided greater clarity of our strategic investment in future innovation and growth. Additionally, with our proposed acquisition of MedSera and the progress we have made since closing our licensing agreement with 3SBio and key upcoming catalysts, the strength of our R&D pipeline continues to grow. Our landmark agreement with the U.S. government was an important milestone because it removed uncertainty on two critical policy fronts.

We successfully addressed the administration’s call to lower prescription drug costs and align prices with those in other developed countries, and we will have a three-year grace period from certain U.S. tariffs with our commitment to further invest in manufacturing in the U.S. Now, I want to address our proposed acquisition of MedSera. We believe that Novo Nordisk’s offer is illusory and cannot constitute a superior proposal under the terms of our merger agreement with MedSera because it violates antitrust laws, and there is a high risk it will never be consummated. We are encouraged by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s decision to grant early termination of the HSR waiting period, which is unprecedented during a government shutdown, and clears the path to completing this transaction following the MedSera shareholder vote on November 13th.

With the pending legal action we have taken to enforce and preserve Pfizer’s rights under the merger agreement, you understand that we will be limited in the details we can address further during today’s call. What I can say is that our belief in the promise of the Pfizer and MedSera combination is strong and unwavering. We are confident it will create substantial value for shareholders and advance innovation to bring important medicines to patients in the high-growth therapeutic area of obesity. Plus, we believe Pfizer will have distinct advantages in developing and delivering new potential treatments because of our proven scientific and commercial strengths. Our R&D infrastructure has global reach and extensive experience running clinical trials in large populations. Our commercial teams have well-established capabilities in bringing primary care therapies to patients.

We have proven we can drive leading clinical, commercial, and strategic momentum with key cardiovascular brands such as Eliquis, Lipitor, Norvasc, and the Vyndaqel family, and we plan to execute in a similar way with MedSera as we reinvigorate Pfizer’s cardiometabolic presence. The licensing agreement with 3SBio is another way we have strategically enhanced our pipeline. Encouraging phase two first-line metastatic colorectal cancer efficacy and safety data for SSGJ-707, the PD-1/VEGF bispecific, was shared last month at the European Society for Medical Oncology meeting. Looking ahead, we are excited to present additional clinical data at the upcoming Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer meeting. We are also encouraged by our discussions with regulators about our plans to unlock the potential of 707 with a robust clinical development program. As we look forward to executing with 707, Pfizer has distinct advantages.

We have deep experience in the development of multispecific antibody therapeutics and the ability to leverage unique combination regimens that make this promising cancer immunotherapy candidate a strong complement to our oncology portfolio. We’ve also made progress in advancing other key programs in our late-stage R&D pipeline. This was reinforced by our presence at ESMO last month with over 45 abstracts, five late-breaking presentations, and recognition in presidential symposium. Starting with the presidential symposium, new phase three data demonstrated that Padcev, in combination with pembrolizumab, reduced the risk of recurrence and death by at least half for patients with cisplatin-ineligible muscle-invasive cancer when given before and after surgery. This is the first and only regimen to improve survival when used before and after standard of care in this patient population. With this unprecedented data in hand, we see the potential to substantially increase the U.S.

addressable population with approximately 18,000 patients under the current label in metastatic urothelial cancer, and if there are further positive data that’s approved, up to approximately 22,500 additional patients across both cisplatin-eligible and cisplatin-ineligible muscle-invasive bladder cancer. We also presented follow-up results from the FAROS single-arm phase two clinical trial supporting Braftovi and Mektovi as a standard of care for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer harboring a BRAF V600E mutation. This updated analysis showed a substantial median overall survival benefit of 47.6 months in treatment-naive patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with a BRAF V600E mutation. We are pleased with the continued strong year-over-year growth of Braftovi and Mektovi, with a 30 percentage points increase in new patient starts since the October 2023 launch. We believe the results from the FAROS trial could establish a new benchmark with targeted combination therapies for its population of patients.

These results fortify the strength of our growing lung cancer portfolio that includes small molecules, ADCs, and our 707 bispecific. We are confident in our potential to deliver treatments across the lung cancer spectrum, a large and growing market expected to reach approximately $70 billion by 2023. We also presented final overall survival results from the phase three Embark trial, evaluating Xtandi in combination with leuprolide and enzalutamide therapy in non-metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer with high-risk biochemical recurrence. As the first and only ARI-based regimen to demonstrate overall survival benefit in this population, these results highlight the potential benefit of Xtandi in this earlier line treatment setting. This strengthens our position for a product that is experiencing strong demand growth in hormone-sensitive prostate cancer and rapid uptake in the approximate 16,000 U.S. patient population with non-metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer with high-risk biochemical recurrence. I want to mention.

Another update about our program in sickle cell disease. We are very pleased that last month, the FDA concluded that Pfizer may resume enrollment of Oxbryta studies outside of Sub-Saharan Africa and in individuals who have not relocated from Sub-Saharan Africa. We are still engaging with regulatory authorities to determine possible next steps for Oxbryta. We will look forward to sharing more details in the months ahead about our key pipeline catalysts for 2026 in the coming years. With discipline execution and our continued focus on key products, both in the U.S. and key international markets, we continue to build on our leadership position within our commercial portfolio. Our Vyndaqel family of products achieved 7% year-over-year global operational growth in the quarter. Strong demand reinforced that this is the foundation of treatment for patients with a heart condition of ATTR cardiomyopathy, helping them live longer and avoid hospitalization.

We are encouraged by our continued strong market leadership. In international, we achieved 40% growth in the quarter in total patients on treatment. In the U.S., our continued double-digit demand growth reflects strong diagnostic efforts, broad access, and favorable affordability dynamics. Nurtec continues to lead with the oral CGRP class in primary care penetration in the U.S. In international, we achieved growth with continued strong uptake in key markets. Globally, we achieved 22% year-over-year operational growth in the quarter. We are pleased that our new consumer campaigns continue to perform well, and our team has been effective in sharing new compelling clinical data with healthcare professionals. Padcev, another market leader in our portfolio, achieved 13% year-over-year global operational growth in the quarter. Padcev, in combination with Pembro, continues to expand utilization and has been established as a standard of care first-line treatment for patients with locally advanced metastatic urothelial cancer.

Our vaccines portfolio is a key area of focus in international markets. We are pleased with the strong performance of the Prevnar family, driven by share gains and launches in several key markets. We achieved 17% year-over-year international operational growth in the quarter. Pfizer is the pediatric pneumococcal vaccination leader with public funding secured in about 140 national immunization programs around the world. After launching in the majority of key international markets, Prevnar Adult is the established leader among adult pneumococcal conjugated vaccines. In the U.S., where we did experience a year-over-year decline in the quarter, we are pleased with the overall performance of Prevnar 20. For adults, Prevnar held a market-leading position and grew with the expanded recommendation for adults over 50.

In the pediatric market, accounting for about 60% of Prevnar revenues in the U.S., we experienced a delayed timing of government bulk order, which we have seen from time to time. So it’s a question of timing. I want to provide an update about the next generation PCV programs. While we previously guided with a phase 3 start of our Adult 25-valent program in 2025, we are planning to start the study next year if the FDA aligns with our approach. For our pediatric program, we expect fourth-dose data from our ongoing phase 1/2 study early next year, and pending positive data and regulatory feedback, we have the potential to start both phase 3 programs in 2026, streamlining our development approach and aligning with our strategy to provide a single vaccine across age groups.

We are committed to maintaining leadership in the PCV space, and as a reminder, our 25-valent vaccine candidate has the potential for improved immunogenicity for serotype 3, which is one of the largest remaining contributors of pneumococcal disease. Serotype 3 alone is estimated to cause approximately 20% of invasive disease in the 65-plus population in the U.S. and EU. Abrysvo also achieved significant international momentum with 75% year-over-year operational growth in the quarter due to expanded access in key markets. In the U.S., we are experiencing the headwind of a more difficult-to-activate population as we enter the third season of RSV. Still, we are continuing to strengthen our position with a 59% market share in the U.S. in CIP dose volume in this quarter.

From the significant strategic milestones we have achieved in recent months to our solid financial performance during this quarter, we are demonstrating how we are building for long-term value with near-term execution of our 2025 strategic priorities. By committing to focus simplification and leveraging technology across our business, we are accelerating progress and improving productivity. In the quarter, we achieved another strong gross margin performance. Additionally, we were able to deliver adjusted diluted EPS that was ahead of expectations significantly, even with lower infection rates contributing to a revenue decline in our COVID-19 portfolio. Our business is performing well, and we are raising the range of our adjusted diluted EPS guidance for full year 2025 while also remaining committed to our dividend, and with that, I’ll turn it over to Dave. Thank you, Albert, and good morning, everyone.

To begin this morning, I’d like to highlight that our solid financial performance directly reflects our continued disciplined execution of our key strategic priorities. We continue to prioritize enhanced patient outcomes as well as the achievement of our financial objectives. Furthermore, our recent agreement with the U.S. government demonstrates our ability to navigate in a complex external environment. Our cost improvement measures have driven greater operational efficiency and streamlined decision-making, which is evident in the solid operating margins for this quarter. Year-to-date margins expanded despite the unfavorable impact of the acquired in-process R&D from the 3SBio transaction. Going forward, we expect to improve our cash flow and increase flexibility across our three capital allocation pillars. Our focus remains on creating long-term shareholder value. We will continue to invest in our business for the long term, evidenced by our recent business development activity while prudently returning capital to our shareholders.

Now, with that, let me start with our third quarter results, and then I’ll touch on our cost improvement initiatives as well as our capital allocation priorities. I’ll finish with a few comments on our 2025 guidance, which continues to improve as we move throughout this year. For the third quarter of 2025, we recorded revenues of $16.7 billion, a decrease of 7% operationally versus the same period of last year. That’s largely driven by a decline in our COVID products. The decline was primarily due to Paxlovid, which experienced reduced demand from lower levels of disease incidence, as well as last year’s one-time Paxlovid government stockpiling recorded in Q3 of 2024. And to a lesser extent, Comirnaty. With that said, our non-COVID products performance was solid, growing 4% operationally versus the same period of LY.

On the bottom line, third quarter 2025 reported diluted earnings per share was $0.62, and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $0.87 ahead of our expectations due to our overall gross margin and cost management performance. I’ll point out that this profit performance includes a headwind of approximately $0.20 of acquired in-process R&D from the 3SBio transaction. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of a refined commercial strategy. We remain committed to prioritizing key products and markets, optimizing the global allocation of our commercial field resources, and concentrating our market efforts on high-priority areas. We saw solid contributions across our product portfolios, primarily driven by Eliquis, the Vyndaqel family, and Nurtec, but it was more than offset by declines in Paxlovid and Comirnaty. Through the first nine months of 2025, Pfizer’s recently launched and acquired products delivered $7.3 billion in revenue while growing approximately 9% operationally versus last year.

This lower growth rate in the third quarter as compared to Q2 was primarily driven by the timing of pediatric CDC shipments of Prevnar and a one-time favorable impact in Q2 for Seagen products transitioning to a wholesale distribution model in the U.S. We plan to continue to invest behind these two product groups to drive their future performance and help enable the company to largely offset our LOEs over the next several years. Adjusted gross margin for the third quarter was approximately 76%. Primarily reflecting the product mix in the quarter and continued strong cost management within our manufacturing footprint. As a reminder, over the past two years, our adjusted gross margins have generally remained in the mid to upper 70s. Excluding Comirnaty, which has a 50/50 profit split with our partner BioNTech.

We expect $1.5 billion in savings from phase one of the manufacturing optimization program by the end of 2027 to support our long-term operating margin expansion goal. Going forward, cost management across our manufacturing network remains a top priority. Total adjusted operating expenses were $7 billion for the third quarter of 2025, an increase of 21% operationally versus LY, driven in large part by the acquired in-process R&D expense for 3SBio. Excluding the 3SBio deal, adjusted operating expenses contracted by approximately $150 million versus last year. Looking at the components, adjusted SG&A expenses decreased 3% operationally, primarily driven by focused investments and ongoing productivity improvements that drove a decrease in marketing and promotional spend for various products. Adjusted R&D expenses decreased 3% operationally as well, driven by a net decrease in spending due to pipeline focus and optimization, including the expansion of our digital capabilities.

And finally, acquired in-process R&D expenses increased $1.4 billion, largely resulting from the 3SBio deal. As our adjusted SG&A and R&D expenses demonstrate, we continue to be disciplined with our operational expense management. Q3 reported diluted earnings per share was $0.87, which benefited from our efficient operating structure. Additionally, EPS was aided by our effective tax rate, primarily driven by favorable changes in jurisdictional mix of earnings and tax benefits related to global income tax resolutions in multiple jurisdictions spanning multiple years, partially offset by the aforementioned 3SBio acquired in-process R&D charge. We continue to be disciplined with expense management, progressing multiple cost improvement programs as we remain focused on driving operating margin expansion over the coming years. Phase one of the manufacturing optimization program contributed savings in the third quarter.

In addition, we remain on track to deliver on our goal of at least $4.5 billion in cumulative net cost savings from our ongoing cost realignment program by the end of this year. As a reminder, in total for these programs, we expect approximately $7.7 billion in savings by the end of 2027 to drive operational efficiencies, strengthening our business with the potential of contributing significantly to our bottom line over this period. Of these savings, approximately $500 million identified in R&D will be reinvested in the pipeline, which we expect by the end of 2026. With that, now let me quickly touch upon our capital allocation, which is designed to enhance long-term shareholder value. Our strategy consists of maintaining and growing our dividend over time, reinvesting in our business at the appropriate level of financial returns, and making value-enhancing share repurchases.

In the first nine months of this year, we returned $7.3 billion to shareholders via our quarterly dividend, invested $7.2 billion in internal R&D, and invested approximately $1.6 billion in business development transactions, primarily reflecting the 3SBio licensing deal. As a reminder, our business development capacity after the 3SBio deal is approximately $13 billion. In the third quarter, we announced a planned acquisition of MedSera for approximately $4.9 billion, with additional contingent value rights tied to successful pipeline progression. The transaction is expected to be funded through a mix of available cash as well as debt. We expect the deal to be diluted through 2030 as we continue to invest to enable further promising late-stage pipeline assets. Specifically, we currently expect the MedSera transaction to be approximately $0.16 diluted to 2026 adjusted EPS.

Additionally, we expect another $0.05 of dilution in 2026 from the 3SBio deal, which closed in the third quarter. With that said, we believe the two deals set up a strong potential revenue growth trajectory in 2030 and beyond. Lastly, through the first nine months of 2025, operating cash flow was approximately $6.4 billion, which includes the $1.35 billion upfront payment for the 3SBio transaction. Our gross leverage at the end of the third quarter was approximately 2.7 times. That said, upon the close of the MedSera transaction, our leverage is expected to be above the 2.7 times target. We expect to bring our leverage back down to the target levels over time to continue to support a balanced allocation of capital between reinvestments and direct returns to shareholders. Now, let me turn to our full year 2025 guidance.

As Albert noted in September, we reached a new voluntary agreement with the U.S. government that will help ensure U.S. patients pay lower prices for prescription medication while providing the clarity we need to focus on our business and our investments in future innovation. The agreement has no impact on our 2025 guidance, but we expect a diluted impact to our 2026 financial outlook. We continue to expect full year 2025 revenues to be in the range of $61-$64 billion. Non-COVID products continue to perform very well operationally and ahead of our plan. However, we note there is softness in our COVID products due to lower vaccination rates and COVID infection rates. In addition, our guidance assumes a favorable impact to revenues from foreign exchange rates. Furthermore, we now expect adjusted R&D to be in the range of $10-$11 billion. And our effective tax rate to be approximately 11%.

Additionally, adjusted SI&A remains unchanged. Now, given our strong performance to date and our fourth quarter outlook, including our more efficient cost structure, we are raising and narrowing our full year 2025 adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance by approximately $0.08. At the midpoint, to $3 a share to $3.15 a share. I’d like to emphasize our adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance substantially de-risked the current lower-than-anticipated COVID trends. In closing, we remain committed to enhancing the value of our product portfolio and advancing innovation to further strengthen our pipeline. With a stronger balance sheet, we plan to continue deploying capital effectively. We aim to boost R&D productivity with digital tools, including AI, prioritize investments in key R&D programs, and deliver new growth through business development. Furthermore, our performance continues to exceed expectations and deliver strong results, even as the incidence of COVID remains low.

This consistent performance highlights our resilience and commitment to excellence, regardless of the challenging external environment. Our efforts to enhance cost efficiency and generate improvements in operating margins by driving productivity and optimizing processes. Lastly, with the recent agreement with the U.S. government, we can now focus on executing our strategy and our strategic priorities across our business to deliver new medicines for patients and enhance long-term shareholder value. I’d like to just close by noting that it is our expectation that we’ll provide guidance for 2026, most likely by the end of this year. So with that, I’ll turn it back over to Albert, and we’ll begin our question and answer session. Thank you, Dave. So, Operator, please assemble the queue. At this time, if you would like to ask a question, please press Star 1 on your telephone keypad.

You may remove yourself from the queue at any time by pressing Star 2. Once again, that is Star 1 to ask a question. Our first question comes from Vamil Divan with Guggenheim Securities. Please go ahead. Hi. Great. Thanks for taking my question. I’m going to have to defer the MedSera questions to other analysts, but I’m curious to hear what you say there. I’ll just ask a couple more on the commercial side. So one, Vyndamax, obviously facing more competition there. Surprised to see the performance. There was a little bit of a sequential decline. So maybe you can just comment on the pricing and sort of market share dynamics you’re seeing in that space, obviously, with the new competitors. And then similar question on Padcev, obviously great data that you shared at ESMO.

The commercial uptake for the quarter at least was a little bit less than we thought. So maybe just how you expect the muscle-invasive indication, assuming you get that here soon, to impact uptake of that program and kind of drive uptake toward the number that right now. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Vamil. Sure. Vamil, thanks for the question. So let me start with your question on Vyndamax. And I want to level set a couple of things about Vyndamax, and then I’ll talk about the performance in the quarter. So there’s obviously new competition in the category, and it’s important to note that Vyndamax is still the only ATTR-CM product that has statistically significant reductions in both mortality and CV-related hospitalizations together and as a standalone. And it’s also the only product where there is a once-daily capsule, placebo-like safety, and near-complete TTR stabilization.

And we’ve got 90% access for Vyndamax across the U.S. Now, with regards to the quarter, there are a couple of different dynamics that are happening. First of all, we saw very strong demand growth, and that’s reinforced by our continued market share leadership, both on a TRX basis clearly, but also in terms of first-line share. Now, that volume growth was offset by two gross-to-net headwinds. One is the IRA manufacturer rebates, which we’ve talked about before. And the second is what we alluded to last quarter, which is payer contracting that took place in the third quarter. So Vyndamax is performing exactly where we thought it would and consistent with what we guided. And performance continues to reflect strong diagnosis, broad access. Improving affordability dynamics, and that’s going to continue to grow our volume.

We are seeing competition, attributes taking some first-line share from treatment-naive patients, and Mvucha has driven minimal switching to date. And as we kind of look forward on Vyndaqel, we’ll see some of these dynamics continue into Q4 as well, where we expect continued volume growth, but the two GTN drivers that I described will certainly impact our net sales, but Vyndaqel is performing in the way that we expected. On your question with regards to Padcev, we’re again very encouraged by how Padcev is doing. For us, we look at this through two lenses. First is the LAMUC population, where we currently have about 55% share among cisplatin ineligible patients and 45%-50% share among cisplatin eligible patients. So there is headroom for us to continue to focus on that segment of the market.

I think your question with regards to how Padcev performed on consensus is related to the comment that Dave made, which is as part of integrating the Seagen products into the Pfizer portfolio in Q2, we moved from a dropship model to a wholesaler model. So that resulted in a one-time growth in our Q2 sales. So you have to grow products off of that adjusted for two to three weeks of inventory. So as we cycle into Q4, we expect the whole Seagen portfolio, including Padcev, to return to growth. And then finally, on MIDC, we’re excited about the possibility as a result of both the 303 and also 304 trials that are ongoing, and that’ll open up a patient population of close to 22,000 patients to help with the next horizon of Padcev growth. Thank you, Aamir. Next call, please. Next question, please.

We’ll go next to David Risinger with Leerink Partners. Yes, thanks very much for taking my question and congrats on the performance in the quarter. So my question is on MedSera. Could you just comment on the legal process ahead? I know that Pfizer is arguing that Novo’s acquisition of MedSera would be anti-competitive. And even if the FTC doesn’t allow it, it could be anti-competitive. So could you just talk us through the clock and the process for courts to hear Pfizer’s arguments? Thanks very much. Thank you, Dave. As I said in my opening comments, it is very difficult for us to start commenting when we have all these legal issues pending, right, as we speak. But I will repeat what I did say, which is kind of an answer to your question, not on the timing, but we don’t see how Novo’s deal can be superior.

It is an illegal attempt by a foreign company to do an end run around antitrust laws. Taking advantage of the government’s add-on. What they want to achieve is not to get the products, to destroy them. What they want is to cut and kill an emerging competitor, which is a significant antitrust concern given Novo’s dominant market position. So all I can say is that we are continuing to pursue all legal resources. Thank you. Next question, please. We’ll go next to Asad Haider with Goldman Sachs. Great. Thanks for taking the question. I guess just for Albert and Dave, just a quick high-level question on BD. What’s the plan if MedSera doesn’t work out for some reason? And then second, on 2026, any early framing on guidance, pushes, and pulls specifically on how we should think about OpEx with and without MedSera?

And then any additional color on how to think about the dilution you mentioned from your recent MFN deal with the administration? Thank you. Yeah. I will send the question to Dave because there are a lot of financial also elements. And then if Andrew wants to add something on the BD, feel free. Yeah. So maybe we’ll start with business development. Obviously, the company has still significant resources to understand and how to deploy successfully. Transactions to bring science in-house. And we will continue to work aggressively to do so across all of our four therapeutic areas. And we continue to work across the globe to identify potential candidates for acquisition to help bring new and innovative medicines to patients. So that’s still a very ongoing focused activity for the company. I think it’s probably a little early to talk exactly about 2026.

You heard me give a little color in the sense that clearly we’re making investments today, and those investments carry over into 2026 and beyond with either MedSera or 3SBio to bring these innovative medicines to market. Those will have a slightly dilutive effect to our operating performance next year. We will then wrap all that together with the puts and takes of 2026 when we give guidance by the end of this year. Thank you. Anything to add on BD, Andrew? Yeah. I mean, I’d echo what Dave said. We are very active in all geographies, especially in China. You saw the 3SBio, which adds a foundational asset to become the backbone across multiple indications. And the same is true in China and beyond across all the main therapeutic areas. We’ve increased the size of our team in China in particular, and we have very active efforts.

And we have something to inform you. You’ll certainly be the first to know. Thank you. Next question, please. We’ll go next to Jeff Meacham with Citibank. Morning, guys. Thanks so much for the question. I guess one for Albert or Dave. When you look at the manufacturing investments you’re making as part of the MFN agreement relative to the operational cost efficiencies, how would you rank those as priorities? I guess both seem to have three-year time frames. I’m just trying to get a sense of the incremental dollar and the strategy there. Thank you. Yeah. Clearly, there are important elements of our strategy. We’re going to clearly invest in the U.S. from a production perspective. We’re working now to work through our plans with the new agreement with the U.S. government on how to effectively deploy our capacity here in the U.S. and further build it out.

So more to come. We will also provide some color to that when we give guidance for 2026. But we will be able to improve our manufacturing operating infrastructure and at the same time invest in manufacturing here in the U.S. And those two are not necessarily completely in conflict with one another. We’ll be able to do both. Thank you. Next question, please. We’ll go next to Courtney Breen with Bernstein. Thank you so much for answering our question today. I really wanted to understand, and perhaps another question on the MedSera, but from a different angle. I wanted to understand, in your mind, what factors supported Pfizer in garnering that unprecedented early termination of the waiting period from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission? That would be really helpful. Thank you so much. I’m not sure I understood the question. The FTC clearance. Why the FTC clearance?

If there are any factors that drove the early. No, I think the FTC made their own decision. Of course, they were aware of this question, so I don’t want to speak for them. But they decided that it is appropriate in the middle of a foreign attempt to acquire to just release our deal, which is now clear. So that’s all. I think it does further demonstrate the strength of our deal and the pathway to clearance and the pathway for us to be able to further develop these products and take them to the marketplace in a very rapid fashion. This is helpful to patients long-term, is helpful to patients long-term under our management and our direction with these assets. Yeah. And should not be surprised, right? Because we all understand that’s the epitome of antitrust conflict.

The entire pipeline of MedSera, it is the entire pipeline of Novo, plus they have a dominant position with the current products that they have. Of course, FTC would worry about that. I don’t want to speak for them, but it is something that everybody understands. All right. Next question, please. We’ll go next to Terrence Flynn with Morgan Stanley. Hi. Thanks for taking the question. Maybe two for me. You’ve previously talked about Elrexfio being a key driver for you over the long term. We noticed that MagnetisMM-5 trial was pushed out data into 2026. We know J&J had a similar trial in a similar patient population that just read out. So maybe you could just remind us of any potential differences here in terms of your trial versus their trial and why there might be a difference in timing given they started around the same time.

And the second question is just a clarification on Paxlovid dynamics for the quarter. It looks like, by our math, price per script went up over last quarter. So just wondering if there’s any one-time items that we need to think about here as we think about the trends into fourth quarter. Thank you. All right. Chris. Yeah. Thanks for the question. So Magnetism 5, as you know, is double-class exposed. Possibly later this year, beginning next year, it’s an event-driven study. So timing could shift due to events not happening, which we cannot speculate. But as you can imagine, that’s often positive if events are not happening in this study. So we’ll just continue to follow the events and hopefully report early next year. Yeah. And on the Paxlovid question, I don’t think there’s any material change in price.

Maybe there’s different channels mix and things of that nature, but nothing significant from that standpoint. Thank you. Thank you for clarifying those. Let’s go to the next question, please. We’ll go next to Akash Tewari with Jefferies. Hey, thanks so much. I had a question on your upcoming phase three EVH2 readout in CRPC. I’m surprised the study isn’t more prominently flagged given the potential to extend the expanded franchise. What drives your confidence that you’re getting adequate target exposure after examining some of your food effect studies? And also, what’s your expectations around overall survival? Could we see a 20%-30% benefit here? Thanks so much. Chris, that’s for you. Thank you very much for the question. This is another first-in-class internally discovered program. EVH2 program. We’ve previously shared randomized data, which showed significant PFS benefit in all comers and late-line metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

And we now have three phase three studies ongoing. The first one we’ll read out, to your point, is post-abiraterone metastatic hormone-resistant prostate cancer, and that we expect in the coming months. We recently also presented data at ASCO, randomized data on the food effect to your question, which was 875 milligrams twice a day with food, and showed that the data are compatible with the dose we now use in phase three with reduced GIAE. So we are confident in the dose that was selected. Thank you. Thank you. Next question, please. We’ll go next to Kerry Halford with Berenberg. Thank you for taking the question. Just on the guidance, please, for this year, you’ve clearly reiterated the total revenue range of $61-$64 billion.

And when you first said that guidance, you spoke of total COVID-19 sales of around $9 billion for the year, seeing that you booked only around just over $4 billion year to date. Just interested in your comments around whether that $9 billion is achievable for the full year. And if not, what other assets would you call out as likely to fill that gap and give you confidence to reiterate the total sales guidance? Thank you. Dave, please. Yes. You’re absolutely right, Kerry, as you pointed out. I would say that to the low end of our guidance range from a revenue perspective, we would assume that the COVID franchise continues a very modest uptake for the balance of this year, particularly in the U.S. However, as you know, the COVID franchise is subject to big peaks and valleys.

If there happens to be a wave of COVID in the next several months, you can see utilization spike up. So that’s why the range is so large. I’ll just point out that what we have done with an earnings per share guidance range is we’ve de-risked the COVID franchise with the guidance that we provided, given that if the trends continue, we’ll be closer to the low end of that range, and we will still be able to deliver on our earnings commitment. Thank you. Very clear, Dave. Let’s move to the next question, please. We’ll go next to Mohit Bansal with Wells Fargo. Great. Thank you very much for taking my question.

Just wanted to understand the thought process around the pricing of these GLP-1 and this class of medicines, given that, I mean, even today, there’s a news article out there suggesting the price could be $150 or so. So it seems like the price is only going in one direction. In that case, I mean, how do you justify the price that you’re paying to MedSera? And in general, the obesity landscape over time, how do you think about that with this pricing decline for the class? Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. This is also competition brings prices down. And of course, they try now to restrict competition. But anyway. Yes, in our calculations, we have taken into consideration that the prices of GLP-1s probably will start going down. So I don’t know what will be announced now. But in our calculations, we took already that into consideration.

Thank you, Mohit. Let’s go to the next question, please. We’ll go next to Alex Hammond with Wolfe Research. Thanks for taking the question. Can you elaborate more on the reason for the delay to the initiation of the pivotal trial for the adult 25-valent pneumococcal program? You’d mentioned the caveat of if the FDA aligns with your approach. So, has the tenor of the dialogue changed with the FDA? Is there a chance that surrogate endpoints may no longer be approvable? Thank you very much. Chris. Yeah. Thank you for the question. Across all our vaccine programs, we are obviously working very closely with the FDA and other regulators on the designs of the study and also the endpoint. PCV25. Pending positive data and FDA feedback. As mentioned, we intend to start that study as well as the pediatric 25-valent program next year.

So it means we will align the pediatric and the adult study. We expect the fourth dose data from the pediatric study early next year. So that helps us to coordinate the two studies. So it will just make it easier. The 25 vaccine candidate covers 25 serotypes. Particularly, I need to point out serotype 3, which we did before, because the vaccine is designed with significantly enhanced immunogenicity against serotype 3, which currently constitutes up to 20% of infections in the U.S. and the EU. And to continue our leadership, we also continue to study our fifth generation with 30-plus serotypes, which we’ll update you on more in 2026. Thank you. Thank you, Chris. Operator, the next question, please. We’ll go next to Chris Schott with JPMorgan. Great. Thanks very much. Just maybe two MFN questions. First one’s kind of bigger picture.

As you think about MFN on new launches over time, what are you thinking about this suggesting for international revenues? Is this, I guess, I could read this as a net positive that you could get higher price? I could read it as net negative because reimbursement hurdle is going to be tougher at these higher prices. It could be neutral. Just how you kind of envisioned what plays out with international as you signed that deal. And then the second one is just trying to get a little bit more color on the MFN impact for 2026. I think you mentioned some dilution there, but just any more quantitative metrics you could provide of just how much of a headwind is that for next year. Thanks so much. Yes. I’m sorry if I asked Dave to tell you, she will tell you.

He will provide guidance at the end of the year, and that will incorporate everything, including that and the other things that he has talked. So I don’t think you will get more words out of our mouth, no matter how much you torture us. But on the new launches in international, of course, we are waiting to see how things may play. The price differential is not sustainable. We are speaking about a smaller basket of countries in international that are affected by that. And with these countries, we are hoping that they will understand that they need to change the way that they price their products going forward. Of course, a little bit helped from the U.S. government and USTR through trade negotiations also can make that happen. And my assessment is that Howard Lutnick and the U.S.

trade representatives are highly, highly committed to make this go away. So we will see how that plays. But in theoretical, if the prices over there are we are not agreeing a decent way of pricing our products, clearly, we will not get reimbursement there, and we will price them to the price that will not affect the U.S. price. Let’s thank you. And now let’s go to the next question, please. We’ll go next to Umar Rafat with Evercore ISI. Morning, guys. First, on MedSera, I realize this is perhaps in the hands of your M&A lawyers and antitrust lawyers, but. From an R&D perspective, can we make sure you’ll be evaluating all the new data that’s imminent? For example, the monthly transition and how the GI tolerability holds, as well as, even more importantly, the Amlin plus GLP early combo data.

And then separately, I was very intrigued by a phase two B trial you guys initiated on an oral drug in atopic derm. Could you confirm if it’s a STAT to gauge the magnitude of STAT6 inhibition phase one? Thank you. Yeah. Thanks. Look, on the MedSera, it’s easy if they provide us data or if they publicize data. Of course, we are eager to see them. And we believe it will be positive. On the second question, I will ask Chris to comment. Thank you, Umar, for the question regarding our INI portfolio. I just want to check. Are you referring to PF9820? I don’t think you can come back to that. Okay. It is. Okay. So you are correct. That is a STAT inhibitor.

I want to point out that we currently have a very differentiated INI portfolio with at least five molecules in-house discovered and developed, most of these at a significantly accelerated speed, including, obviously, P40 TL1A, which we co-developed, which is being co-developed with Roche, which covers IL-12 and IL-23 by P40. Our two trispecifics covering IL-4, IL-13, TSLP, IL-33, both of those now entering phase two for atopic dermatitis and for other TH2-related diseases. Litfulo with the ongoing phase three trial in non-segmental vitiligo, which is a JAK3 selective inhibitor, also differentiated in-house. And then the STAT6 early, just entering phase two, could be potentially first-in-class oral. We’re currently further optimizing dose and formulation and hope to update you on that program in 2026. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next question, please. We’ll go next to Steve Scala with TD Cowen. Oh, thank you so much. Two questions.

What does the drug pricing deal with Trump allow Pfizer to do that other companies will not be able to do other than, of course, AstraZeneca? And secondly, on MedSera, so the data looks more similar than different than competitors, and MedSera disclosures haven’t been completely transparent, raising serious questions. Many other big-cap pharmas have passed over MedSera when pursuing other products, validating the me-too point. Nothing in all this justifies a bidding war or even a protracted legal battle. Is Pfizer’s determination to persist underpinned by substantial confidential data or simply the desire to be a player in obesity? Or does Pfizer agree with the points that I just said and could it just walk away? Thank you. Thank you, Steve.

On the first one, on the drug prices and what we have that other companies may not have, I can’t answer because I don’t know what the other companies are having. As you know, the discussions are between the administration and individual companies, which also ensures that there is no antitrust issues. And also, of course, they are confidential because that’s also what the administration and the agreements portray that we should keep confidentiality of those. So I know what we are getting. Some of that has been public, and some of that is part of the overall very lengthy deal. But I don’t know what others will take. On the MedSera, look, we have seen the data. We did extensive due diligence, and we priced. The asset into a price that we thought offers tremendous value.

To the shareholders of MedSera and to shareholders of Pfizer because those assets that we like in our hands, of course, will provide significant competitive edge. What you see now, it is, I repeat, an effort to. Cut and kill this emerging competitor, which is Pfizer. And to do that by evading the antitrust. Scrutiny and virtually get control, de facto control of the company, as they will become the major shareholder and the major creditor without any. Regulatory scrutiny. So that’s all I have to say. And. We will see how things go. Let’s move to our next question, please. Our next question comes from Evan Seigerman with BMO. Hi, guys. Thank you so much for taking my question. Assuming MedSera closes, what near-term factors must you consider to continue growing the dividend and then delivering, Dave, as you had said?

When do you think you may be able to also start to repurchase shares, or is that less of a priority with all this BD? Thank you so much. Yeah. Evan, very good question. Obviously, you’ve seen us over the last year and a half or two years really lean into productivity across our platform. That productivity has allowed us to. Deliver from roughly four times to 2.7 times. That’s given us increased flexibility to do both business development as well as maintain and grow our dividend over time. That cycle of improvement and productivity is something that we’ve now embedded in the company. We will continue to do that. We will continue to do that across the enterprise. We will continue to prioritize ourselves from an R&D perspective.

Clearly, we have several assets that we think are key to the growth of this company by the end of the decade. We are going to invest behind those assets from a pipeline perspective, and we’re going to invest behind the categories of products that we’ve either acquired and/or recently launched because those will ultimately allow us to offset the LOEs over the next several years. So we’ll be able to do all of that. Share repurchases is an important lever for us. In the near term, it’s not a tool that we’re going to use. We have to get the balance sheet back to where we need to be. And again, we have business priorities that come in the forefront of that at this point. Great question. Thank you. Okay. So now I think. Let’s get the last question. Our last question comes from Rajesh Kumar with HSBC.

Good morning. Two questions, if I may. Appreciate you cannot say a lot about MedSera at this juncture. Just from a modeling perspective, if we are thinking of additional balance sheet capacity for deal-making. How much capacity would you assume, assuming that you are keeping some capacity away from MedSera at the moment. In 2026 on your own internal budgeting? That would be really helpful. And just on the 3SBio, appreciate the deal has just closed and some of the trials have just started. When can we expect to see data news flow come out of that deal? Is it more a 2027 event, or do we have any interim readouts or updates in 2026? Thank you. I think Dave can answer the MedSera modeling. Yeah.

So as you think about BD capacity, as I said in my prepared remarks, we have approximately $13 billion of capacity as we enter here into the third quarter. So with that, Chris, let’s understand the 3SBio. Yeah, the data flow. So just a reminder, ASCO 2025, we shared phase two monotherapy data. And first-line non-small cell lung cancer showing the overall objective response at 65%. At ESMO, phase two combo data plus chemotherapy XELOX or modified FOLFOX-6 was shown for first-line metastatic colorectal cancer. And that was showing a response rate of close to 60%. At SITC, we provide additional data, combination data in lung cancer. You’ve just seen we posted two phase three programs starting now this year in first-line non-small cell lung cancer and in first-line colorectal cancer.

And in the coming weeks, we’ll also provide the full development plan to you at an event, and that will show the breadth and the depth of our clinical development program for 707. Thank you, Chris. So thank you very much all for your attention. We have been successful in achieving a series of significant strategic milestones. We delivered a solid performance during the quarter, and we are confident in our business. And that’s why we are raising our guidance for our adjusted diluted EPS. And of course, we maintain our midpoint revenue despite the lower COVID-related trends right now. So thank you for your interest in Pfizer, and I hope you have a wonderful week. This does conclude today’s program. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at any time.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.