New York (AFP)
US pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Merck said on Tuesday that their factories were operating normally, ruling out any shortage of their medicines despite disruptions in supply chains caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The health crisis did not spare the pharmaceutical industry, which feared a drop in prescriptions for drugs due to measures of confinement and social distancing having reduced visits to doctors and postponed surgical operations.
"To date, Pfizer has not yet observed any significant disruption in its supply chain and at any of its (drug) production sites around the world. These continue to operate at almost their usual rate and level ", assures the number 1 American pharmacy as part of the publication of its first quarter results.
Pfizer claims to have managed to contain any problem related to the distribution of its drugs that has arisen since the emergence in December in China of Covid-19, a disease caused by the new coronavirus.
Faced with the difficulties of airlines and logistics companies, forced to cancel thousands of flights for example, the manufacturer of Viagra claims to have set up new means of transport to deliver its treatments.
Merck also wanted to be reassuring, guaranteeing patients with advanced melanoma, throat and lung cancers that there would be no interruption in their treatment because the supply of the anti-cancer agent Keytruda , immunotherapy treatment, continued without a hitch.
The same is true for Gardasil, a vaccine prescribed for the prevention of cervical cancer, and for the Implanon / Nexplanon implant.
Merck "has normal inventory levels for most of its products," said the American group, noting that its production sites and laboratories are "fully operational".
- Lower prescriptions -
The laboratory has promised that its production chain will have enough to last for a year, which makes it say that it will be able to supply the dispensers of drugs "throughout the duration of the pandemic".
European Merck customers have also built up stocks before the explosion of Covid-19 cases on the Old Continent, said the American group.
The health crisis will nonetheless cause a shortfall of around $ 2.1 billion in 2020 in Merck's annual accounts, which has therefore lowered its financial targets.
Annual sales are now expected to range from $ 46.1 billion to $ 48.1 billion, up from $ 48.8 billion previously.
The laboratory only expects to earn adjusted earnings per share, the benchmark in North America, between 5.17 and 5.37 dollars, against 5.62 to 5.77 dollars previously.
"The company now anticipates a drop in demand for its drugs prescribed by doctors as long as measures intended (to limit the spread) of the pandemic remain in place," explained Merck, whose two thirds of the revenues are generated by prescribed medications.
In the first quarter, its turnover was $ 12.05 billion, up 11.5% year on year, for a net profit of $ 3.2 billion including $ 1.50 per share excluding exceptional items.
Pfizer reported net earnings of $ 3.4 billion, or $ 0.80 per adjusted share, for sales of $ 12.02 billion, down 8.3%.
Unlike its competitor, the laboratory wanted to be confident for the year, by reaffirming its financial objectives.
Merck and Pfizer are also continuing to work, like many laboratories and medical schools around the world, on the development of a vaccine against Covid-19.
In Germany, the federal authority responsible for the certification of vaccines has just given the green light to clinical trials on humans carried out by the German laboratory BioNTech in association with Pfizer.
These trials, the fifth carried out on humans in the world, constitute an "important step" to make a vaccine "available as soon as possible" according to the German authorities.
Pfizer said Wednesday it has already released an envelope of $ 650 million for the production of a possible vaccine or treatment in Europe and the United States and is already preparing its factories for a ramp-up.
© 2020 AFP