Revenues from Pfizer’s Vaccine Business Increase

Pfizer announced on Oct. 27, 2015 that compared with third-quarter earnings in 2014, revenues from its vaccine business increased by nearly 43%, and revenues specifically in the United States increased 78%, which the company said was driven by continued strong uptake of Prevnar 13 (pneumococcal 13-valent vaccine) among adults. Notably, global revenues in their oncology division increased by 54% operationally, which the company said was primarily driven by sales of their drug Ibrance (palbociclib)‎ for the treatment of advanced breast cancer.

Although the company reported an increase in R&D expenses-primarily as a result of increased spending associated with its anti-PD-L1 alliance with Merck KGaA-the R&D spend increase was partially offset by lower clinical trial spending for certain vaccine programs.

The company also recently completed its acquisition of GlaxoSmithKline’s quadrivalent meningococcal ACWY conjugate vaccines-Nimenrix and Mencevax-for approximately $130 million, but the company said it did not expect the acquisition to significantly affect its 2015 financial performance.