Combined, Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc have forecast a total of over US$45 billion in sales this year for their COVID-19 vaccines. Among companies with COVID-19 vaccines, shares of Pfizer fell 1.7% and were among the biggest weights on the benchmark S&P 500 index, while U.S. shares of its German partner BioNTech SE shed 0.6% after falling as much as 15% earlier.
Shares of COVID-19 vaccine makers fell on Thursday as governments debated plans to waive patent protection for the shots, with analysts saying the move could rattle investor sentiment or weigh on longer-term business prospects.
The declines came even as some analysts raised doubts about any near-term pressure on COVID-19 vaccine sales from discussions of waiving intellectual property rights, given the manufacturing complexity and scarcity of raw materials.
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