BIG PHARMA EARNINGS WATCH: GSK, PFIZER, MERCK, BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB

Aug 7, 2024

Big Pharma Continues Raking in Expectation-Beating Profits and Revenue Fueled by Egregious Pricing Practices and Anti-Competitive Tactics

Last week, GSK, Pfizer, Merck, and Bristol Myers Squibb held earnings calls for the second quarter of the year that kept brand name drug makers’ hot streak of beating Wall Street expectations going — after each of the Big Pharma giants hiked prices on American patients earlier this year.

GSK

  • GSK beat Wall Street analysts’ expectations with sales totaling $10.11 billion for the quarter.
  • The Big Pharma giant’s blockbuster drugs, shingles vaccine Shingrix brought in $1.06 billion.
  • The company’s oncology and HIV divisions performed strongly.
  • GlaxoSmithKline updated both its sales and earnings forecast for the year, expecting sales growth of seven to nine percent.

Pfizer

  • Pfizer beat Wall Street analysts’ expectations for a second quarter in a row.
  • The Big Pharma giant earned $13.28 billion in revenue, up two percent from the same period last year.
  • Pfizer increased its full-year performance outlook due to strong performances from its cardiomyopathy drug Vyndaqel, which brought in $1.32 billion, and blood thinner treatment Eliquis, which earned $1.88 billion in revenue.

Merck

  • Merck reported Q2 earnings and sales that exceeded Wall Street’s expectations.
  • The Big Pharma giant reported second quarter revenue of $16.11 billion, up seven percent year over year.
  • The company’s pharmaceutical division brought in $14.41 billion in Q2 revenue, helped by increased sales of its cancer drug Keytruda.
  • Keytruda saw a 16 percent increase in the second quarter, earning $7.27 billion in revenue.
  • Additionally, Merck’s HPV vaccine Gardasil brought in $2.48 billion in sales.
  • Due to a strong quarterly performance, the company raised its full-year sales forecast to range between $63.4 and $64.4 billion.

Bristol Myers Squibb

  • Bristol Myers Squibb topped Wall Street analysts’ earnings and revenue expectations, bringing in $12.2 billion in Q2 revenue.
  • The company’s blockbuster blood thinner Eliquis brought in $3.4 billion in sales for the quarter.
  • Sales for the Big Pharma giant’s cancer drug Opdivo rose 11 percent to $2.4 billion.
  • Bristol Myers Squibb’s earnings report was so strong that the company raised its full-year revenue guidance.

The strong earnings reports for the Big Pharma companies follow numerous price hikes across the companies’ portfolios earlier this year – as well as examples of engaging in anti-competitive tactics to block competition from cheaper alternatives and keep prices high. GSK and Pfizer, for example, recently worked to increase prices in lockstep on new respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines before they were even widely available to patients.

GSK

Pfizer

GlaxoSmithKline’s & Pfizer’s RSV Vaccine Price Hike Scheme

  • The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved two RSV vaccines for older Americans last May, GSK’s Arexvy and Pfizer’s Abrysvo.
  • Ahead of Arexvy’s approval, GSK said it anticipated pricing the shot somewhere between $60 and $185. Immediately following FDA approval, GSK indicated their price would land in the higher end of the range, above $120.
  • Then, as Pfizer shared a price range of $180 to $270 with advisors for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), GSK shared a new range, increasing their projected price to be between $200 and $295 — despite indicating a high-end of $185 just weeks before.
  • At the CDC advisor meeting, Pfizer also hinted at further increases to the price of their shot by refusing to even commit to staying within the range they offered. “Among other concerns, some of the committee members were unhappy that Pfizer would not commit to a price for its vaccine,” CNN reported.

Merck

  • Merck hiked prices on 21 prescription products in its portfolio in January 2024, including 20 which were higher than the 3.4 percent rate of inflation for December, the previous month.
  • Merck started 2023 by raising prices on more than 20 prescription drugs, including blockbuster diabetes medicines Januvia and Janumet by 4.9 percent each.
  • Merck’s blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda is on track to become “the highest-selling drug in the world and would be a Fortune 200 company on its own.”
  • In December 2022, Merck announced plans to seek new patents on Keytruda to expand its existing patent thicket on the drug and further extend its monopoly power by blocking competition.
  • Merck hiked prices on nearly 30 prescription drugs in 2022, including five percent increases on blockbuster diabetes medicines Januvia and Janumet.
  • Merck increased prices 20 times in 2021 by an average of five percent.

Bristol Myers Squibb

  • Bristol Myers Squibb kicked off the year by increasing prices on more than 10 prescription drugs, including a six percent increase on Eliquis, and another four that were higher than the 3.4 percent rate of inflation for December, the previous month.
  • Bristol Myers Squibb kicked off 2023 by raising prices on nearly 20 prescription drugs, including blockbuster blood thinner Eliquis by six percent.
  • Bristol Myers Squibb began 2022 by hiking prices on more than a dozen prescription drugs.
  • Price hikes last year were launched on two key cancer drugs, Opdivo and Revlimid, as well as blockbuster blood thinner drug Eliquis.
  • Bristol Myers Squibb hiked prices on at least 10 medications to start 2021.

Read more about Johnson & Johnson & Novartis Wall Street topping Q2 earnings HERE.

Read more about Sanofi, AstraZeneca, Roche, and AbbVie’s Q2 earnings HERE.

Stay tuned as we continue to monitor second quarter earnings calls from brand name drug companies.

Learn more about solutions to lower prescription drug prices and hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.

###

© 2024 CSRXP- All Rights Reserved