Should You Forget Pfizer and Buy This Pharma Stock Instead?

Once a pharmaceutical institution is granted a patent for a caller cause oregon therapy, the timepiece starts moving connected its exclusivity. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), cause patents person a 20-year statutory word from their filing day, but their commercialized exclusivity usually lone lasts 7 to 14 years. That's a abbreviated play of clip to currency successful connected a profitable drug.

Thanks successful portion to an tremendous thicket of 130 patents surrounding it, AbbVie's immunology therapy Humira was the world's top-selling cause for six consecutive years. It yet ceded the apical spot successful 2021 to Comirnaty, the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech. But Pfizer has struggled to find its footing successful a changed pandemic landscape.

Meanwhile, AbbVie has demonstrated a maestro people successful portfolio diversification, processing 2 immunology drugs -- Skyrizi and Rinvoq -- that unneurotic merchantability much per twelvemonth than Humira ever did. In 2025, Skyrizi had $17.6 cardinal successful sales, portion Rinvoq had $8.3 billion; combined, that's $25.9 billion, considerably higher than Humira's apical yearly income fig of $21.2 cardinal successful 2022.

Comirnaty's income collapsed arsenic the COVID-19 pandemic ebbed, and its income slid by 35% past twelvemonth to $4.4 billion. On apical of that, Pfizer's starring therapy by gross -- humor thinner Eliquis, with $7.9 cardinal successful 2025 income -- is expected to look generic contention successful the U.S. by 2028. The institution shares Eliquis gross with Bristol Myers Squibb.

Both Pfizer and AbbVie person above-average dividends astatine their existent stock prices. Pfizer's dividend output has been awesome astatine astir 6.3%, astir treble AbbVie's output of 3.2%. But Pfizer's ultra-high dividend has an unsustainable payout ratio of 107%, portion AbbVie's is 65%.

Pfizer has a beardown committedness to its dividend, raising it for 16 consecutive years, including a 2.3% bump past twelvemonth to $0.43 per share. I don't deliberation it would chopped its dividend, but until its currency from operations improves, immoderate dividend increases volition beryllium small.