U.S. to pay Pfizer nearly $2 billion for more Paxlovid courses in 2023

The U.S. government agreed to pay Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) nearly $2 billion for an additional 3.7 million courses of its authorized COVID-19 oral treatment, PAXLOVID™ the company said on Tuesday. The new purchase supplements the 20 million courses previously bought by the United States and delivery is planned by early 2023, Pfizer said in a statement.

PAXLOVID™ plays an important role in helping to combat COVID-19-related hospitalizations and death in high-risk patients. The oral treatment is currently authorized for conditional or emergency use in approximately 70 countries across the globe, including the United States. As of Nov. 30, Pfizer had shipped almost 37 million courses of Paxlovid to 52 countries around the world, it said in a statement. That includes all 20 million courses previously ordered by the U.S. government.

The two-drug oral treatment is currently available for free in the United States, where more than 9 million courses have been delivered to pharmacies, and patients have used over 6 million courses of the treatment, according to government data.

Pfizer is expected to top $100 billion in revenue this year, more than half of which is expected to come from its COVID business.