27. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)
Consensus ROE: 12%
Number of Hedge Fund Investors in Q2 2024: 84
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) is one of the biggest healthcare and pharmaceutical companies in the world. The firm has a diversified product portfolio as it sells a wide variety of drugs in the market. Additionally, its resources also enable Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) to concurrently have drugs under development. Consequently, the firm’s hypothesis is dependent on two factors. These are Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)’s ability to grow market share with its existing product lineup and develop new drugs to keep revenues stable as its patents expire. On the former front, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) is facing down the barrel of several expiring patents between 2025 and 2027. These include its breast cancer treatment Ibrance, its anticoagulant drug Eliquis, its pneumococcal medicine Prevnar, and prostate cancer drug Xtandi. Within these, the first two accounted for roughly 20% of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)’s sales in 2023. To mitigate the revenue drops, the firm has to develop new drugs. However, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)’s pipeline is yet to yield impressive results. Therefore, the firm’s future remains clouded, but on the positive side, activist investor Starboard has acquired a $1 billion stake in the firm so perhaps a turnaround could come soon.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)’s management shared details about its pipeline during the Q2 2024 earnings call:
“This strengthens Lorbrena’s position as an emerging standard of care in the frontline setting. Data from the Phase 3 ECHELON-3 study of Adcetris in combination with lenalidomide and rituximab demonstrated a clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival for patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. And, data from Phase 3 study evaluating an additional Adcetris combination regimen showed progression-free data in patients with newly diagnosed classical Hodgkin lymphoma, while significantly reducing side effects compared to a standard of care regimen used in Europe in this setting. We have advanced our oncology clinical pipeline in 2024 with Phase 3 studies for sigvotatug vedotin, our integrin beta 6-directed ADC; atirmociclib, our selective CDK4 inhibitor; Elrexfio in the second-line setting in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma; and mevrometostat, our EZH2 inhibitor, which we are now moving to Phase 3 and anticipate enrollment beginning in August.
We will continue working toward our 2030 oncology strategy goals of delivering eight or more blockbuster medicines and doubling the number of patients treated with our innovative cancer medicines. We also have momentum with our vaccine programs. In our next-gen PCV candidate, for example, we have advanced to a Phase 2 program in both adults and pediatrics, based on encouraging clinical data that we received that highlight our industry-leading capabilities in expanding valency beyond 20 serotypes. We expect to be highly competitive by offering the largest serotype coverage in a single vaccine while strategically addressing the persistent medical need across invasive disease, antibiotic resistance and challenging serotypes. In RSV with Abrysvo, I am pleased to report that yesterday we received an approval for Abrysvo’s Act-O-Vial presentation in the United States, a presentation which offers advantages such as a never-frozen, unique system enabling one-step reconstitution highly valued by pharmacists.”
