Pfizer COVID-19 pill data slams competitors' shares, shakes up healthcare sector

Pfizer Inc's stunning data here for an experimental pill to fight COVID-19 rippled through the healthcare sector on Friday, boosting shares of the pharmaceutical giant while slamming the stocks of vaccine makers and other competitors. A trial of Pfizer’s experimental antiviral pill was stopped early after it was shown to cut by 89% the chances of hospitalization or death for adults at risk of developing severe disease. “The market was certainly not pricing in Pfizer’s data readout this early and probably not this high” in terms of effectiveness, said Kevin Gade, a portfolio manager specializing in healthcare at Bahl & Gaynor.