J&J suspends COVID-19 vaccine sales forecast

WASHINGTON (AP): Johnson & Johnson 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 health care giant said Tuesday 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 United States. The vaccine brought in only $75 million in sales in the U.S., or about 25% 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.

Vaccine options from rival drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna have been much more commonly used so far in the United States, where overall vaccine sales have slowed in recent weeks as the omicron surge of the virus started to ease.

U.S. regulators also have said that most Americans should receive the Pfizer or Moderna shots instead of J&J’s version due to a rare blood clotting problem tied to the shot.