We think that what we have seen in 2023, 2024 campaign is really the type of acceleration we will see, and that will be carried on the next few years. The only area where there is a potential future growth in terms of vaccination uptake is, if we can increase our co-administration with the flu vaccines where in all our key markets, the rate of vaccination in flu is actually higher than it is for Comirnaty. So we believe that there is potentially here an opportunity. The last point that I want to say is, as you see that the Comirnaty self-pattern is evolving towards a seasonal pattern. So you saw you have a very strong Q4, like you expect in flu vaccination type of markets. And that’s what we see also to be expected in 2024. And actually, as I was reading some of your models in the financial community, I think there is some confusion that we will have higher Q1, Q2, which I believe will be more towards the second part of the year, but of course, in line with the guidance.
Operator: Our next question will come from Umer Raffat with Evercore ISI.
Umer Raffat: I was looking at SEC filings from Cerevel and they disclosed that Pfizer was open to putting out a bid on Cerevel after Phase 3 data, which would have been in 2024. Meaning I also noticed that you were saying you’re not open to a buyback in 2024 and deleveraging remains a top priority. So I just want to balance those two, especially also in the context of where the stock stands.
Albert Bourla: Look, I will ask Dave to speak about it. But the fact that we are looking everything and we are engaging in everything doesn’t mean that, that’s our obligation. We are doing all the work. It doesn’t mean that our intention is to deviate the capital allocation strategy that we have just articulated. And that is the number one priority is our dividend and the growing dividend. Then it’s a year of execution. We try to delever as David said. And then once we bring our deleverage to the levels that we are aspiring, we will start also moving into share buybacks and, of course, M&A, which means that for ’24, we will see everything in existence because we never say never to business development opportunities could come. But our strategy, it is that you will not see anything major in business development in terms of dollars. David, did I say it well?
David Denton: You said it well. You are correct.
Albert Bourla: Thank you very much. You are a good teacher. Thank you. And the other question, Umer? I think that was it, right?
Operator: Next, we have Tim Anderson with Wolfe Research.
Tim Anderson: Maybe for Aamir. So Eliquis is the biggest drug on the initial list of 10 drugs for IRA. CMS has until February 1 to provide you the initial proposed negotiated price so that’s two days away. So two questions here. Can you confirm you haven’t already received that initial proposal yet? And second question, can we expect that at some point between now and September 1, which is the deadline that they have to make the final price public, that you’ll give some investors some sort of directional information on how those discussions are going? Are we going to be kind of in the dark until September 1?
Albert Bourla: So Aamir, are you planning to give light to more? Give us.
Aamir Malik: So Tim, as you can appreciate, this whole price setting authority in Medicare, this is new and pharma companies obviously beginning to understand this process of the federal government. The rules are complicated, so we’re wrapping our mind around it. Our alliance partner, BMS, is taking lead and engaging with CMS and an official process to determine the price for Eliquis in Part D that will begin in January 1, 2026. And also, as I’m sure you can appreciate, we’re not going to comment on an ongoing price-setting process and negotiation.
Albert Bourla: Yes, it’s very difficult to comment on these things because they are ongoing. So it’s very inappropriate and absolutely could complicate things. I understand that there is a need for people to understand because that’s an important product. And we will try as soon as possible and practical to be able to provide the level of details that we are looking at everybody is looking so that we can model it appropriately.
Operator: Our next question will come from Andrew Baum with Citi.
Andrew Baum: A couple of questions, please. First to Aamir, under your new leadership and commercial focus, what key products would you guide us to of recent launches that we should look for in terms of acceleration of rollout trajectory? And it doesn’t have to be recently launched, established ones as well. And then second to Mikael. Could you just share a little bit more information about your next-generation PCV vaccine, specifically how many serotypes? And I’m assuming that given it’s a new technology, you will lose the ability to grandfather the pneumonia claim from the CAPiTA trial into the profile as it matures. If you could confirm, that would be great.
Albert Bourla: Thank you very much, Andrew. Your assumption, I don’t think it is correct, but Mikael will answer that. But let’s first go to Aamir to basically give us a view how you see in ’24 the priorities of the commercial execution in the U.S.
Aamir Malik: Yes. So Andrew, I’ll take a step back and let me start by saying, I’ve been very excited about this role and this opportunity. And also to do it with the team that we’ve built, which is a mix of both seasoned Pfizer leaders as well as experienced leaders from outside of Pfizer. I mean, my focus and we can talk about specific products, we’ve touched on many of them already. But my focus overall is on execution excellence, right? So in our primary care and specialty care portfolio, we have a lot of great brands. We have some really enduring franchises, VYNDA, Eliquis, Prevnar. I spent quite a bit of time talking about that. Our focus there is to defend and grow where we can and we do see some opportunities. And we also have to acknowledge that we have some brands that have great value propositions, but they happen to be in highly competitive categories with some very, very well entrenched competitors.
So in a situation like that, my focus is principally, let’s really prioritize the actions that can grow each of the brands and we can talk about the individual launches. There’s a lot of operational focus on blocking and tackling, including contracting. And then when we look at our main resources, we have our field force, our advertising and promotion dollars and our medical capabilities just prioritizing exactly where we put those. That is what I’m focused on with me and my management team. And as I mentioned, we see opportunities in some of the core franchises and defending and growing our share but then also in a number of our launches. And Albert mentioned in his opening remarks what we hope and expect to do with Abrysvo, with Nurtec, with Litfulo, with Sabinko.
