New York, May 15, 2026, 15:05 (EDT)
Pfizer Inc plans to ramp up in India, with an eye on cancer drugs, obesity treatments, vaccines and specialty medicines. The U.S. drugmaker is trying to recover momentum after losing the big COVID-19 boost. Pfizer India country president Meenakshi Nevatia called India a “must-win”, saying “no company can be global if they’re not winning,” and stressed the need to launch new products sooner and price them to fit the market. The Economic Times
Pfizer is looking to convince investors it can deliver past the COVID boom and upcoming patent losses. The company posted first-quarter revenue of $14.5 billion, up 5% from a year ago. Excluding older drugs, sales of its newer and bought products climbed 22% operationally. Pfizer is still facing about $1.5 billion in revenue erosion this year from generics and biosimilars.
Pfizer (PFE) dropped about 1.8% to $25.29 in New York afternoon trading, with the company’s value now close to $144.9 billion. J.P. Morgan’s Chris Schott said the pipeline could get “more interesting” but thinks the street still wants better clinical data before buying in. RBC’s Trung Huynh called Pfizer “a catalyst story, not an earnings story.” Reuters
Pfizer’s approach in India is as much about access as it is about drug development. Nevatia told the Economic Times that about 70% of Pfizer’s local revenue comes from products made in the country. The company is tracking the obesity space as it works through local clinical hurdles for new products.
Pfizer picked up another regulatory clearance in Europe, saying the European Commission expanded approval of Hympavzi. The once-weekly hemophilia drug is now cleared for adults and teens 12 and older with hemophilia A or B who have developed inhibitors. Inhibitors are antibodies that can make standard factor-replacement less effective.
Pfizer said its Phase 3 BASIS trial showed a 93% fall in mean treated annualized bleeding rate versus on-demand therapy. That metric counts treated bleeds per year. “The patient journey can be complex and challenging with limited options available today,” executive Alexandre de Germay said. Pfizer
Hemophilia A is caused by a lack of factor VIII, while hemophilia B is tied to factor IX deficiency. Hympavzi is a once-weekly subcutaneous injection designed to block tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI), which limits blood clotting.
Sanofi’s Qfitlia is now approved in the U.S. for routine prophylaxis in hemophilia A or B, no matter the inhibitor status, starting in 2025. Novo Nordisk’s Alhemo got FDA clearance for patients 12 and older with hemophilia A or B who have inhibitors. The field is packed with competitors.
Pfizer’s first obesity drug is still years away. Citing Reuters from earlier this month, the company’s initial candidate from the Metsera buy won’t be available until at least 2028 if testing stays on track. That leaves Pfizer trailing Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, whose GLP-1 drugs have already shifted investor focus in this market.
Still, lots could go sideways. Price could be a problem in India, local trial slowdowns are possible, and a regulatory nod doesn’t always mean fast uptake. Pfizer listed major risks for Hympavzi: unknown commercial results, shifting regulatory path, and open questions on production, labeling, and safety. Thrombosis was the top serious side effect in trials, according to the company.
Pfizer faces pressure to deliver with bets on India, obesity drugs, vaccines, cancer treatments, and smaller products like Hympavzi. Size isn’t the concern. What investors want now is actual sales, not more talk about what’s in the pipeline.
