COVID-19 Vaccines to Hit 9.5B Doses in 2021; Nearly Twice the Volume of Global Vaccine Production Before Pandemic

The COVID-19 has undoubtedly reshaped the Big Pharma landscape. Although drug makers teamed up like never before to fight the coronavirus, the soaring demand for COVID-19 vaccines has resulted in massive changes in vaccine production.

According to data presented by Aksje Bloggen, an estimated 9.5 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines will be produced in 2021, nearly twice the volume of all vaccine types made worldwide before the pandemic struck.

Moderna to Make $43B in COVID-19 Vaccine Sales by 2023, More than BioNTech/Pfizer and AstraZeneca Combined

In the early stages of the global COVID-19 vaccine race, it wasn’t clear how many would work or which manufacturers would score successes. However, over the last few months, pharma giants have drastically ramped up production. More than 413 million doses of nine different vaccines had been produced by early March, revealed the Airfinity data.

With 119 million doses, Pfizer leads in the global COVID-19 vaccine production race, ahead of Sinovac with 91 million and AstraZeneca with 83 million doses.

Although Airfinity estimates around 9.5 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines will be produced in 2021, that is still under 11.5 billion doses needed to meet global demand this year.

With pre-purchase agreements for more than 3 billion doses, AstraZeneca/Oxford’s vaccine is by far the most sought after COVID-19 vaccine. One of the main reasons for that is its ability to be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures, while other vaccines need ultracold storage.

Although still in phase III of clinical trials and without approval, Novavax’s vaccine has the second-highest number of orders, or more than 1.4 billion. BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna, and Gamaleya follow with 1.2 billion, 816 million, and 765 million, respectively.

However, the Guardian data show Moderna is expected to be the company with the largest sales revenues from a COVID-19 vaccine. Statistics show the Massachusetts-based biotech company is expected to generate around $43 billion in sales through its vaccine by 2023, more than BioNTech and Pfizer and AstraZeneca combined.

35% of All COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Produced in China

Analyzed by geography, China dominates in global COVID-19 vaccine production. Statista data revealed that 141.6 million, or 35% of all doses produced by early March, were made in China. The United States ranked second with 103 million doses.

Statistics show that together, Germany and Belgium produced a further 70.5 million, while India ranked fourth with 42.4 million.

The United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Russia follow with 12.2 million, 10.5 million, and 10.4 million produced doses, respectively.