Pfizer Targets Long-Term Oncology Growth Amid Competitive Pressure

Pfizer PFE is one of the largest and most successful drugmakers in oncology with an established presence in breast, genitourinary, thoracic, gastrointestinal cancer and blood cancers. It boasts a strong portfolio of approved cancer medicines as well as a robust pipeline of cancer candidates with a focus on multiple modalities, including small molecules, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and immuno-oncology biologics. 

Oncology sales comprise around 27% of its total revenues. Its oncology revenues grew 8% in 2025, driven by drugs like Xtandi, Lorbrena, the Braftovi-Mektovi combination and Padcev, which made up for declining sales of drugs like Ibrance.

Xtandi recorded alliance revenues of $2.19 billion in 2025, up 8% year over year. Inlyta revenues were $923.0 million in the quarter, down 6%. Lorbrena sales rose 40% to $1.02 billion. Braftovi/Mektovi revenues were $716 million, up 18% year over year. New drug, Elrexfio, generated sales of $304 million in 2025. Ibrance revenues declined 6% year over year to $4.1 billion.

Among the antibody-drug conjugates or ADCs added from the 2023 acquisition of Seagen, Adcetris sales of $907 million declined 17% year over year due to competitive pressure in the United States. Padcev rose 22% to $1.94 billion, driven by strong demand trends mainly due to market share gains in first-line metastatic urothelial cancer.

Pfizer considers Padcev to be a potential growth driver in the oncology segment and plans to invest in this asset. Recently, Padcev + Merck’s MRK Keytruda was approved by the FDA for treating cisplatin-ineligible patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) in November 2025. The approval marked the first and only ADC plus PD-1 inhibitor combination regimen for this patient population and a potential new standard of care. Padcev + Keytruda is also being studied in cisplatin-eligible MIBC. If approved for cisplatin-eligible MIBC, it will substantially expand Padcev’s U.S. eligible patient population.

Pfizer has ventured into the oncology biosimilars space and markets six biosimilars for cancer. Its oncology biosimilars contributed $1.3 billion in sales in 2025, rising 26% year over year.

Pfizer also advanced its oncology clinical pipeline with several candidates entering late-stage development, like atirmociclib and sigvotatug vedotin. Regulatory application seeking approval of sasanlimab is under review in the EU, while that for vepdegestrant is under review in the United States and may be launched next year. By 2030, it expects to have eight or more blockbuster oncology medicines in its portfolio.

Last year, Pfizer entered into a global ex-China in-licensing agreement with China's 3SBio for exclusive rights to PF-08634404, a dual PD-1 and VEGF inhibitor, which it plans to establish as a potential backbone therapy across multiple tumor types. Pfizer plans to start four pivotal studies for PF-08634404 in 2026.

Pfizer is also working on expanding the labels of approved oncology drugs like Padcev, Tuksya, and Elrexfio, among others.

In all, Pfizer’s oncology business remains a key growth engine, with strong momentum from Padcev, Lorbrena and its biosimilars portfolio helping offset legacy declines. Backed by new approvals, label expansions and a deep late-stage pipeline, the company is positioning its cancer franchise for sustained expansion through the end of the decade.

Competition in the Oncology Space

Pfizer is one of the largest drugmakers of cancer medicines. Other large players in the oncology space are AstraZeneca AZN, Merck, J&J JNJ and Bristol-Myers.

For AstraZeneca, oncology sales now comprise around 44% of total revenues. Sales in its oncology segment rose 14% at constant exchange rate (CER) in 2025. AstraZeneca’s strong oncology performance was driven by medicines such as Tagrisso, Lynparza, Imfinzi, Calquence and Enhertu (in partnership with Daiichi Sankyo).

Merck’s key oncology medicines are PD-L1 inhibitor, Keytruda and PARP inhibitor, Lynparza, which it markets in partnership with AstraZeneca. Keytruda, approved for several types of cancer, alone accounts for more than 50% of Merck’s pharmaceutical sales. Keytruda recorded sales of $31.7 billion in 2025, up 7% year over year.

J&J’s oncology sales now comprise around 27% of its total revenues. Its oncology sales rose 20.9% on an operational basis in 2025 to $25.4 billion. While J&J’s older cancer drugs, multiple myeloma treatment Darzalex and prostate cancer drug Erleada, are key contributors to its top-line growth, new drugs such as Carvykti, Tecvayli, Talvey and Rybrevant, plus Lazcluze, hold the key to long-term growth.

Bristol-Myers’ key cancer drug is PD-L1 inhibitor, Opdivo, which accounts for around 21% of its total revenues. Opdivo’s sales rose 8% to $10 billion in 2025.

PFE’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Pfizer’s stock has risen 5.7% in the past year compared with an increase of 17.3% for the industry. 

From a valuation standpoint, Pfizer appears attractive relative to the industry and is trading below its 5-year mean. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 9.28 forward earnings, lower than 18.86 for the industry and the stock’s 5-year mean of 10.22.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings has declined from $2.99 per share to $2.97, while that for 2027 has been stable at $2.83 per share over the past 30 days.

Pfizer has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research