Pfizer Seeks To Exit BioNTech Investment After Lucrative Covid Vaccine Run

Group 1: Pfizer's Stake in BioNTech - Pfizer is reportedly offloading its remaining stake in Covid-19 vaccine partner BioNTech SE, seeking to sell approximately 4.55 million American depositary receipts priced between $108 and $111.70 each, potentially raising about $508 million [1][2] - Pfizer's equity stake in BioNTech originated from their partnership in developing the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty, which generated billions in sales during the pandemic [3] Group 2: BioNTech's Financial Performance - BioNTech reported sales of $1.78 billion (1.52 billion euros) for the latest quarter, an increase from 1.24 billion euros a year ago, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion [4] - The revenue growth was primarily driven by BioNTech's collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., although this was partially offset by lower sales volumes of its COVID-19 vaccines [4] Group 3: Pfizer's Financial Performance - Pfizer's third-quarter sales decreased by 6% year over year to $16.65 billion, slightly above the consensus of $16.59 billion, reflecting an operational decline of 7% [5] - The operational decline was mainly due to reduced revenues from COVID-19 products, attributed to lower infection rates and a narrower vaccine recommendation in the U.S. [5] Group 4: Recent Developments - Pfizer recently secured a $10 billion deal to acquire obesity drug developer Metsera, Inc., outbidding Novo Nordisk A/S in a competitive bidding process [6] - At the time of publication, Pfizer shares increased by 1.29% to $26.20, while BioNTech shares decreased by 6.37% to $104.59 [6]