Fitch Ratings has affirmed Pfizer, Inc.'s, Wyeth LLC's and Pharmacia Corp.'s (collectively, Pfizer) ratings, including their 'A' Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs).

The Rating Outlook remains Stable. In addition, Fitch has affirmed Pfizer, Inc.'s Short-Term IDR at 'F1'.

The Stable Outlook reflects Fitch's expectation that Pfizer will return to its negative rating sensitivity for leverage by year-end 2025, following the significant increase after its Seagen acquisition and the reduction in COVID-19 related cashflows. Any change in Fitch's expectation regarding EBITDA growth, debt repayment and future M&A activity could have negative effects on the ratings and/or Outlook.

Key Rating Drivers

COVID-Related Revenues in Flux: COVID-related revenues have significantly underperformed prior forecasts, which were already significantly lower than 2022 revenues. Fitch has again revised down its forward expectations despite previously recognizing the uncertainty regarding the long-term revenue run rates for Comirnaty (COVID-19 vaccine) and Paxlovid (active COVID-19 infections treatment) qualitatively.

The company continues to modify the vaccine to address new variants of the virus, though market demand has waned. Fitch also notes that the mRNA technology used to develop the vaccine is also being used to create other vaccines and therapies unrelated to the coronavirus.

Meaningful Increase in Leverage Post-Seagen: Fitch expects EBITDA leverage will exceed 2.75x in 2024 upon the recent closing of the Seagen Inc. acquisition for $43 billion, compared to the mid-2x range pre-COVID and temporarily low leverage during COVID (

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