"Weight loss drug 'cutting off the wrist', core medication under pressure Pfizer Inc. (PFE.US) wants to 'buy buy buy' to strengthen heart metabolism shortcomings."

Pfizer Inc. disclosed in its first quarter financial report for 2025 that, following the setback in the development of the oral weight loss drug Danuglipron, the company will accelerate its presence in the cardiovascular metabolism field through acquisitions or partnerships to fill the product line gap. The financial report shows that although Pfizer Inc.'s Q1 revenue of $13.7 billion (down 8% year-on-year) fell short of market expectations, adjusted earnings per share exceeded expectations, and the company maintained its upper limit earnings guidance for the full year. Looking at specific business segments, performance of the COVID-19 products varied. Revenue from the COVID-19 oral drug Paxlovid was only $4.91 billion, significantly below the expected $9.02 billion, while the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty, developed in partnership with BioNTech, contributed $5.65 billion, surpassing analyst predictions of $3.255 billion. In addition, core drugs faced pressure, with the anticoagulant drug Eliquis, developed in collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, experiencing a 4% year-on-year decline in sales due to pricing pressures. To address fluctuations in performance, Pfizer Inc. is upgrading its cost control plan: building on a $4.5 billion net cost savings target by the end of 2025, a further $1.2 billion in savings goals are set to be added, with an overall cumulative savings target of $5.7 billion by the end of 2027. In mid-April, Pfizer Inc. announced the termination of the GLP-1 receptor agonist Danuglipron's development. The drug encountered cases of liver damage in dose optimization trials, making it the first candidate drug in the company's obesity treatment field to be discontinued. Pfizer Inc.'s CEO Albert Bourla stated during the earnings call, "Halting Danuglipron was a cautious decision, and in the future, we will build a product matrix in the cardiovascular metabolism field through internal research and development projects (like the GIPR antagonist project) and external partnerships." Edmund Ingham, Head of Haggerston BioHealth Investment Group, pointed out that while Pfizer Inc.'s core business revenue declined year-on-year, the cost control measures are more significant in boosting shareholder confidence. He cautioned that the expectation of annual revenue exceeding $60 billion is dependent on "stable tariff and trade policies," and if the external environment worsens, performance in the second half of the year may come under pressure. Pfizer Inc. is facing the dual challenge of a stall in its core pipeline and cost pressures. Its presence in the cardiovascular metabolism field is not only crucial for the treatment of obesity but also encompasses markets for chronic diseases such as cardiovascular metabolic syndrome. Some analysts believe that quickly supplementing the product line through acquisitions or partnerships could be key to the company breaking through its growth bottleneck.