Market analysts and Pfizer stock

Pfizer's (PFE) share price could hit a new high in the coming days as the US FDA is expected to receive approval for its COVID pills as early as today. Market analysts are raising their forecasts for Pfizer shares one after another.

Results from Pfizer's testing of the pill on 1,219 unvaccinated volunteers showed that Paxlovid reduced the chance of hospitalisation or death by 89% in patients with COVID-19 when treated within three days of onset of symptoms and by 85% when administered within five days. These are better results than Merck's rival drug Molnupiravir (MRK), which reduces the risk of hospitalisation or death by just 30% when treated within five days of symptom onset.

According to a report on Tuesday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may approve the anti-Covid pill from Pfizer and Merck this week. According to Bloomberg sources, the decision could be made as early as today.

Last month it was announced that the US government had agreed to buy 10 million courses of treatment with Pfizer's Paxlovid pills for $5.29bn.

On Tuesday, Pfizer announced an agreement with the UK government to supply an additional 2.5 million courses of Paxlovid treatment, subject to local approval, bringing the total number of treatment courses to 2.75 million.

Pending the possibility of approval or regulatory approval, Pfizer began production of Paxlovid earlier this year and plans to produce up to 80 million courses of treatment by the end of 2022, of which 30 million courses of treatment will be available in the first half of the year.

Pfizer will soon start generating millions of dollars from Paxlovid sales, in addition to the sales potential of booster vaccines.

This creates an additional boost to the company's revenue and earnings per share, which grew at rates of 100% and 90% in the third quarter of this year.

Thanks to its earnings growth and increased turnover of its omnibus funds, Pfizer recently announced it had acquired pharmaceutical company Arena Pharmaceuticals for $6.7bn in cash, allowing it to further expand its product range and boost sales.

In December, four top investment firms raised their target prices for Pfizer shares at once, among them: Wells Fargo, UBS, Goldman Sachs and Cowen.