J&J suspends COVID-19 vaccine sales forecast

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is suspending sales forecasts for its COVID-19 vaccine only a few months after saying the shot could bring in as much as $3.5 billion this year.

The healthcare giant said yesterday that a global supply surplus and demand uncertainty prompted the move, which will not affect the company’s operational earnings per share guidance.

J&J’s one-shot vaccine brought in $457 million in global sales during the first quarter, with most of that coming from outside the US. The vaccine brought in only $75 million in sales in the US or about 25 per cent less than what it rang up after debuting in last year’s first quarter.

J&J has said it doesn’t intend to profit from the vaccine. But it said in January that it could bring in between $3 billion and $3.5 billion in sales this year, as countries continue to fight variants of the virus.

The vaccine brought in $2.38 billion in sales last year.