The companies producing authorized COVID-19 vaccines have generated profits reaching billions of euros, with the Pfizer-BioNTech alliance leading the way, especially as it was the first vaccine to receive approval in Europe and the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic has harshly affected the global economy due to restrictions imposed in most countries, but the companies that developed licensed vaccines against the virus have reaped profits estimated in billions of euros, starting with the alliance between American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German biotechnology firm BioNTech, which announced its financial results on Monday.
Below are the results of private companies, excluding the Russian vaccine (Sputnik V) and the vaccines developed by public bodies in China.
**Pfizer-BioNTech, the Biggest Beneficiary**
The American giant Pfizer and the German biotechnology lab BioNTech, which developed the COVID-19 vaccine, were the first to announce positive results in the West and received EU and US approvals. They benefited from this advantage. The vaccine has earned Pfizer more than any other competitor, generating $10.8 billion (approximately €9.2 billion) in the first half of 2021, and since then, it has started to reap most of the sales from this treatment. The American group raised its sales expectations for 2021, aiming to achieve $33.5 billion in sales from its vaccine this year. BioNTech, for its part, recorded sales of €7.3 billion in the first half of the year. The COVID-19 vaccine is the only product intended for sale by BioNTech, aside from Pfizer, which produces multiple medications, thus this figure specifically reflects the performance related to this treatment. BioNTech expects to achieve vaccine sales of €15.9 billion for 2021.
**Moderna in a Strong Position**
The American startup Moderna, similar to Pfizer-BioNTech, developed a vaccine based on messenger RNA technology that was one of the first vaccines approved in the West. In the first half of the year, Moderna, whose vaccine is its first commercially traded product, recorded sales of $5.9 billion, or around €5 billion. Moderna expects to achieve $20 billion in revenues from its vaccine for the entire year of 2021.
**AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson Lagging Behind**
The Swedish-British vaccine AstraZeneca and the American Johnson & Johnson, through its Belgian subsidiary Janssen, were licensed in the EU later and rely on viral vector technology. The United States did not authorize AstraZeneca’s vaccine, although it was approved in other countries like India. These two groups promised to sell their vaccines without making a profit during the pandemic, resulting in much lower sales prices than Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, which impacted their revenues. AstraZeneca reported revenues from its vaccine of $1.17 billion (€1 billion) in the first half of the year. Johnson & Johnson, whose vaccine was authorized later, reported $264 million (€225 million). Johnson & Johnson intends to sell $2.5 billion worth of its vaccine for the entire year of 2021, while AstraZeneca has not provided detailed forecasts.
