Pfizer may work with BioNTech to develop coronavirus vaccine: R&D head

Pfizer Inc is considering a collaboration with German drugmaker BioNTech to develop vaccines for the coronavirus using BioNTech's mRNA-based drug development platform, Pfizer's R&D head told Reuters on Thursday.

Pfizer Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten was one of the pharmaceutical executives who attended a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss possible vaccines and treatments for the fast-spreading virus on Monday.

He had said then that the company was working on developing an anti-viral therapy to help patients who already have contracted the virus. But he said on Thursday that Pfizer was considering joining companies like Johnson & Johnson , Sanofi SA and Moderna in the race to develop a vaccine to inoculate healthy patients.

Dolsten said that Pfizer, which already collaborates with BioNTech on the development of mRNA-based vaccines for influenza, is also interested in the company's efforts in coronavirus.

"We will share some of our thoughts with BioNTech also on what they do on COVID-19 and evaluate whether there are things that could merit to do together," he said.

BioNTech has been considering using its mRNA platform to develop a vaccine for coronavirus since earlier this year, BioNTech chief executive officer Ugur Sahin told Reuters in an interview last month.

An mRNA-based vaccine, which uses synthetic messenger RNA to help the body immunize itself against a virus, can potentially be developed and manufactured more quickly than traditional vaccines.

Moderna, which also focuses on mRNA-based therapies, has already developed an experimental coronavirus vaccine using a similar method to BioNTech. Moderna plans to begin clinical trials of its vaccine later this month.

ANTIVIRALS

Dolsten also gave more details about the company's efforts to develop potential anti-viral treatments for the virus, which are currently being screened by a third-party company to see how it performs against the virus in a laboratory setting.

Pfizer said these compounds could potentially be used in conjunction with another antiviral treatment being developed by Gilead Sciences called remdesivir, which is further along in the development process.

Pfizer's compounds use a different mechanism of action than Gilead's to attack the virus, Dolsten said, with Pfizer's looking to attack the protease segment of the virus.

The protease "is one of the best drug targets in the viral sector," Dolsten said. "It has been one of the most effective for HIV and HCV and our analysis confirmed that the COVID-19 protease target was very similar to one we had been working on for another virus."

He declined to say what virus the compounds had been originally developed to fight.

Gilead's drug is focused on a target called the polymerase, Dolsten said. He said there were opportunities for Pfizer's compounds - if they are successful - to work in combination or sequentially with Gilead's.

"In other viral studies when you hit the two different mechanisms, you see a far better outcome, a much bigger cure rate than if you just work on a similar target," he said.

Gilead CEO Daniel O'Day said on Wednesday that remdesivir is in late stage clinical trials in both China and the United States. He said the company should know "in the next couple of months" whether the drug helps treat patients with the coronavirus.

Pfizer warns of hit to financial results on continued coronavirus outbreak

Pfizer Inc on Thursday warned that the continued spread of the coronavirus globally could have an adverse impact on its business and financial results. The outbreak could have an impact on the company's manufacturing, supply chain and clinical trial operations, Pfizer said under the risk factors section of a regulatory filing.

"The extent to which the coronavirus impacts our operations will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence," the drugmaker added.

The outbreak that began in Wuhan at the end of last year has killed over 2,700 in China, with over 78,000 confirmed cases of infection, and has now spread to several other countries.

Merck & Co on Wednesday said the outbreak has negatively affected some of its clinical trials and has seen a limited effect on its supply chain of drugs into and raw materials out of China.

Merck, in its regulatory filing, also warned of a negative impact to its first quarter results, which it expects to not be material. The company added it was currently unable to determine whether the outbreak will have a further impact on its results in 2020.

Pfizer raises 2019 forecast as sales of cancer drug, heart medicine surge

Pfizer Inc reported a higher-than-expected third-quarter profit on Tuesday on increased sales of cancer drug Ibrance and a strong launch of new heart medicine Vyndaqel, prompting the largest U.S. drugmaker to lift its earnings forecast for the year.

Pfizer raised its 2019 adjusted earnings forecast to $2.94 to $3.00 per share from its prior estimate of $2.76 to $2.86, and its shares rose 3.6%. Analysts on average were expecting $2.82, according to Refinitiv IBES.

Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla, on a conference call, also raised the 2019 revenue growth forecast for the company's Upjohn unit in China to "mid-to-high single digits" from an earlier view of low-to-mid single digits, even as it prepares to spin off that business.

The New York-based drugmaker announced in July it would separate the Upjohn unit, which sells off-patent branded drugs, and combine it with generic drugmaker Mylan NV, allowing Pfizer to focus on its more profitable newer medicines.

Mylan will be able to leverage a strong base in Asia through Upjohn, whose headquarters Pfizer had shifted to China, a prime market for the older branded drugs with high name recognition such as Lipitor. Mylan shares rose 2.8% to $19.51.

Bourla said he envisions Pfizer as a "smaller, science-based company" following close of the Mylan deal, expected next year.

While sales of breast cancer drug Ibrance rose 25% to $1.28 billion rheumatoid arthritis drug Xeljanz had a sales jump of nearly 39% to $599 million, the performance of Vyndaqel out of the gate was an eye opener.

The drug, chemically known as tafamidis which was approved in May, brought in sales of $156 million, nearly double the Wall Street estimate of $82 million.

Lbrance is back to strong growth after a period of slowing," said UBS analyst Navin Jacob, adding that "the Vyndaqel number in particular is impressive. Priced at $225,000 per year, Vyndaqel's high cost has faced criticism. Experts affiliated with Boston-based Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) said it could become among the most costly cardiovascular treatments ever.

Investor sentiment on Pfizer has been poor since it announced the deal with Mylan, making the third-quarter beat a relief, Jacob said.

Excluding special items, Pfizer earned 75 cents per share, topping analysts' average estimate by 13 cents.

Total revenue fell about 5% to $12.68 billion as sales of pain treatment Lyrica, which now faces generic competition in the United States, fell by more than half to $527 million.