PFIZER (PFE) CEO Albert Bourla is Betting Big on Repeating The Success of Its COVID-19 Vaccine With an Experimental Oral Treatment — and He's Putting The Company's Money Where Its Mouth Is .
Bourla Told Yahoo Finance Wednesday The Company is Committing $1 Billion To Develop The Oral Treatment — a Protease Inhibitor — Which Would Give The World an Easy-To-Use, Targeted Treatment, Hopefully By Year's End.
The Current Market For COVID19 Treatments includes Monoclonal Antibodies and some repurposed Drug, including Generics and Gilead Sciences' (GILD) Veklury (formerly Remdesivir) - all of which require being in a hospital or clinic to receive Treatment .
Last year, Pfizer jolted the race for a coronavirus shot with its $2 billion commitment, at risk, to develop the COVID-19 vaccine in partnership with BioNTech (BNTX). The approach was different from competitors relying on government funding from what was then Operation Warp Speed, to help with R&D costs.
On Wednesday, the company projected total COVID-19 vaccine revenue could top $33.5 billion for 2021. Of that, Pfizer estimates its cut - after sharing 50% royalties with BioNTech, covering costs and taxes - to be in a range of $8.4 billion to $9.7 billion.
In an earnings call Wednesday, chief scientific officer Mikael Dolsten said Phase 2/3 trials began in July and the company anticipates an emergency use authorization submission in the fourth quarter.
"The goal is to reduce SARS-Cov-2 viral load, thereby hopefully decreasing or preventing symptoms of COVID-19 and minimizing the risk of hospitalization," Dolsten said.
The study focuses on infected patients, and could include anywhere from a five to 10-day treatment course, depending on whether or not the person is exposed to a person with COVID-19, or is just starting to exhibit symptoms of infection.
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