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RSV Vaccines Lose Some Shine for Big Pharma

Pfizer, Moderna, and GlaxoSmithKline are developing vaccines for RSV to fill the gap on their balance sheets.

Photo of a nurse giving a vaccine
Photo by Mathurin Napoly via Unsplash

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Big Pharma’s post-COVID big bet is sputtering.

Pfizer, Moderna, and GlaxoSmithKline have been among the companies developing vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The thinking was that in a world where COVID-19 vaccines are less lucrative, RSV could fill the gap on their balance sheets. However, a recent bit of guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has knocked the wind out of the RSV vaccine market.

Age is Just a Number

Pfizer and Moderna have seen big dips in their share prices ever since COVID-19 vaccine rollouts had their intended effect: good news for the world, bad news for the companies’ margins. In November 2023, Moderna booked a $3.6 billion loss, due in large part to unsold COVID-19 vaccines. 

RSV isn’t shaping up as the Next Big Disease. In June, a CDC committee revised the age band for those who should receive routine RSV vaccines. Previously, it recommended regular vaccines for adults over 60, but that number has gone up to 75. According to data given to the Financial Times by analytics firm Airfinity, the market is already symptomatic:

  • Airfinity said it had forecast US sales of RSV vaccines to hit $3.7 billion this year; it’s now marked its forecast down to $2.2 billion, a 40% drop.
  • It also revised its annual forecast for US sales by 2030 from $4.7 billion to $1.7 billion, an almost 64% drop.

Weight-loss Woes: In more recent years, weight-loss drugs have burst onto the scene like the — oh yeah, we’re going there — joy-bearing Kool-Aid Man, but even they can run up against infrastructural challenges. Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss drug Wegovy has not had the blockbuster outing it hoped to achieve in the UK, the FT reports, because the country’s National Health Service does not have enough weight-loss clinics to dole out prescriptions.