Lower COVID-19 Vaccine Sales Estimated Amid Less Severe Omicron Variant: Bloomberg

According to an analytics firm, Airfinity Ltd, evidence that omicron causes less-severe disease than earlier COVID-19 variants is expected to lower the growth in vaccine sales this year.

• Citing Airfinity, Bloomberg reports that COVID-19 vaccine sales, excluding China and India, will increase to about $85 billion in 2022, down about 28% from an earlier estimate of $118 billion.
• The analytics firm said that the revision was also due to lower prices paid by poorer nations for the shots.
• Related: Federal Health Officials Say Omicron-Targeted Shots May Not Be Necessary: WSJ.
• Demand for doses is still rising, and booster programs in high-income countries will be a key driver, according to Airfinity, which estimates that sales will climb almost 30% in 2022 from about $66 billion last year. 
• Moderna Inc MRNA could record about $26 billion in sales in 2022, while Pfizer Inc PFE and its partner BioNTech SE BNTX may clock about $43 billion. 
• AstraZeneca Plc AZN is expected to generate $4.3 billion in vaccine revenue. 
• The firm's estimates differ from that of the drugmakers themselves. 
• Pfizer has forecast $31 billion in 2022 COVID-19 vaccine sales. 
• Prelim COVID-19 vaccine sales for Moderna stand at $18.5 billion, along with a potential $3.5 billion from boosters and other purchases. 
• Price Action during the premarket session on the last check Friday:
  • MRNA stock is down 1.27% at $165.40 
  • PFE shares are down 0.30% at $53.89 
  • BNTX stock is down 2.15% at $153.16 
  • AZN shares are down 0.48% at $59.88