Pfizer rides Paxlovid sales to better-than-expected quarter

Pfizer’s COVID-19 treatment helped the pharmaceutical giant balance tumbling international sales for its coronavirus vaccine and top third-quarter expectations.  

The pill treatment Paxlovid brought in $7.5 billion in sales in the quarter and has generated more than $17 billion so far this year.  

Sales from the vaccine Comirnaty, meanwhile, tumbled 66% to $4.4 billion in the quarter, mainly due to changes in a European Commission supply agreement that pushed dose deliveries into the fourth quarter. Sales also were hurt by slow demand in emerging markets.  

But vaccine sales jumped in the United States after regulators approved a new booster dose and expanded access to children as young as 6 months old.