Pfizer’s Cancer Portfolio Expected to Rake in $8.3 Billion in 2019

Pfizer is a big company with a diverse portfolio, but it hasn’t really been noted for its presence in the oncology market. The majority of its successful drugs are in primary care and heart medicine, like Lipitor (atorvastatin) for cholesterol, Lyrica (pregabalin) for neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia, Zithromax (azithromycin), an antibiotic, and Viagra (sildenafil) for erectile dysfunction. But now, Pfizer offers 17 drugs to treat cancer, with four approved in the U.S. in 2017. The oncology portfolio, according to EvaluatePharma, is projected to bring in $8.3 billion in sales in 2019. For the first time, cancer drugs are expected to sell more than the cardiac and primary-care medicines.
“At Pfizer, oncology is one of the core components of the organization—going from an almost afterthought,” Andy Schmeltz, global president of Pfizer Oncology, told the Wall Street Journal. WSJ indicates that marketing executives in the biopharma industry like oncology because promoting these drugs to oncologists and hospitals takes a smaller sales force than to market cholesterol and hypertension drugs to primary care physicians. And according to EvaluatePharma, oncology drug sales are projected to hit $138 billion globally this year with an 11-percent growth rate in 2019. They’re fairly pricey drugs as well, with a typical cancer drug having a list price of $100,000.