Why Pfizer's Post-COVID Future Looks Brighter Than Ever

Key Points

• Sales of Pfizer's COVID-19 products have collapsed.

• Thanks to heavy investment fueled by COVID-related revenue, Pfizer has a big pipeline of new potential blockbuster drugs.

• Cancer treatments Pfizer acquired from Seagen in 2023 are driving growth.

• 10 stocks we like better than Pfizer ›

It's been a rough few years to be a Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) shareholder. Shares of the big pharma stock are down about 61% from a peak they set in late 2021. That year, the company's COVID-19 vaccine, Comirnaty, racked up $36.8 billion in sales.

In the first half of 2025, Comirnaty sales came in at just $945 million. Sales of Paxlovid, an antiviral treatment for COVID-19, fell 60% year over year to $918 million. Despite sinking demand for Comirnaty and Paxlovid, Pfizer's post-COVID future looks bright.

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In 2023, Pfizer plowed $43 billion into Seagen, a cancer drug developer with a robust pipeline. Now, the company markets several Seagen treatments, including Padcev, which has become a popular first-line option for bladder cancer patients. In the second quarter, Padcev sales jumped 38% higher year over year to an annualized $2.2 billion.

Padcev sales could keep growing by leaps and bounds thanks to recent results from an adjuvant study. At the first interim analysis, a clinical trial showed that giving patients long-term treatment with Padcev before and after tumor removal surgery significantly increased their odds of long-term survival.

Padcev is just one of several acquired cancer therapies likely to generate growing sales down the road. For example, Elrexfio earned approval in 2023 to treat multiple myeloma patients who failed four previous lines of treatment.

In a trial with newly diagnosed patients, Elrexfio shrank tumors for 97% of those treated. A move to treat new patients who tend to stay on treatment for a long time could drive peak sales above $5 billion annually. With Padcev, Elrexfio, and an experimental obesity treatment still in development, the coming decade could be a great one for patient investors.

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Cory Renauer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Pfizer. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.