2021 Revenues ($USD) : $81,288,000,000
2021 R&D spend : $13,829,000,000
2021 Number of Employees : 79,000
Fiscal Year End : 12/31/2021
Leader : CEO Dr. Albert Bourla

Pfizer’s innovation strategy in recent years — and its ability to capitalize on the pandemic — have boosted the company into the No. 1 spot on this year's Pharma 50. Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty, developed jointly with BioNTech, is already one of the bestselling drugs ever. In 2021, the vaccine contributed $​​36.8 billion to Pfizer’s bottom line of $81.3 billion. Earlier, the company had projected that 2021 sales of the vaccine would be $15 billion. According to the company's financial guidance, its 2022 revenues could hit $100 billion this year. While the momentum of COVID-19 vaccine sales is unlikely to continue, Pfizer anticipates that it will sell $22 billion worth of its COVID-19 antiviral, Paxlovid in 2022. Pfizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla said in the Q4 2021 earnings call that he believes the success of the COVID-19 vaccine and antiviral have “fundamentally changed Pfizer and its culture forever.” It is ironic that, before the pandemic, the company had taken steps to slim down, divesting its Upjohn division, which merged with Mylan to form Viatris. Other notable drugs with substantial sales in 2021 include the Prevnar family of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, the HR-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer treatment Ibrance (palbociclib) and the JAK inhibitor Xeljanz (tofacitinib). —BB