COVID VACCINE EXPECTED TO DRIVE PFIZER SALES TO $15 BILLION IN 2021 P fizer announced that the company expects to sell about $15 billion in coronavirus vaccine dos- es this year. The company’s Covid-19 vaccine, which it’s making with German partner BioNTech, was the first ap - proved for emergency use in the U.S. It forecasts be- tween $59.4 and $61.4 billion in revenue this year. Pfizer, like other Covid-19 vaccine makers, has been struggling to meet the demand for shots that will help bring an end to the pandemic. Pfizer has said it expects to deliver 200 million doses of its two-shot vaccine to the U.S. by July 31 and recently enlisted the help of French drugmaker Sanofi to help produce doses. Spotlight on Health Headlines U.S. SURPASSES 500,000 COVID-19 DEATHS AND CLIMBING M oderna has announced that it has received “positive feedback” from the Food and Drug Administration on its proposal to increase the number of Covid-19 vaccine doses in each of its vials. One vial of Moderna’s two-shot vaccine contains ten doses, enough to inoculate five people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CNBC reported last month that Moderna had asked the FDA for permission to fill its Covid-19 vaccine vials with up to five additional doses to ease a bot - tleneck in manufacturing. MODERNA MOVES FORWARD ON PLAN TO INCREASE COVID VACCINE SUPPLY IN EACH VIAL
M oderna Inc. recently announced that the company had reached US$18.4 bil- lion worth of signed agreements for its COVID-19 vaccine in 2021. The vaccine maker aims to deliver as many as 1 billion doses in 2021, and 1.4 billion doses in 2022. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech company has a pipeline of other drug and vaccine candidates in development that use the mRNA platform, now validated by the pandemic. As those experimental products inch closer to pa- tients, Moderna is to commercialize them. It’s unclear if the increase of doses per vial is why Moderna now expects it can deliver 300 million doses by the end of July. MODERNA INC. HAS REACHED $18.4B WORTH OF SIGNED AGREEMENTS FOR ITS COVID-19 VACCINE
A lthough the virus has been with us for more than a year, the scale of the death toll is hard to fathom. “More than 500,000 Americans have now died from the virus,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “On this solemn occasion, we reflect on their loss and on their loved ones left behind. We, as a nation, must remember them so we can begin to heal, to unite, and find purpose as one nation to defeat this pandemic.” Biden added that he is ordering the American flag to be flown at half-staff on federal grounds to recognize the over 500,000 Americans who have died of Covid- 19. Nearly as many Americans have now died from Covid-19 aswere killed inWorldWar I and II, combined. The U.S. death toll represents a population roughly the size of Atlanta or Kansas City, Missouri. The death toll will continue to increase. Projections from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington show a range of 571,000 to 616,000 total Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. by June 1, based on various scenarios.
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FEBRUARY 2021 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2021
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