Max Nisen, Columnist

A $27 Billion Vaccine Is Not Pharma's New Normal

Winning the Covid vaccine race is going to generate heaping piles of money for Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna this year. How long will it last?

July 27, 2021 at 2:00 PM UTC

By Max Nisen

Max Nisen is a healthcare analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. He previously wrote for Bloomberg Opinion, Quartz and Business Insider.

The Pfizer- BioNTech mRNA Covid shot is poised to shatter the single-year sales record for a drug. This year only, though. — The Pfizer- BioNTech mRNA Covid shot is poised to shatter the single-year sales record for a drug. This year only, though.
Photographer: Pascal Pochard-Casabianca/AFP via Getty Images

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Vaccines have traditionally been among the least glamorous and most challenging areas of pharma. Developing new shots is uniquely time consuming and expensive, and despite the extra effort required, sales are consistently lower than in other drug categories.

The arrival of Covid-19 changed everything.