Pfizer reported a drop in profits on lower sales of Covid-19 related profits Wednesday as it steers investments to other pharmaceutical areas and implements previously announced cost cuts.

Much lower sales of Covid-19 vaccine Comirnaty and therapeutic Paxlovid accounted for a 20 percent drop in first-quarter revenues to $14.9 billion compared with the year-ago period.

Profits were $3.1 billion, down 44 percent.

The drugmaker pointed to increased sales of oncology products, in part driven by the acquisition of Seagen, which was completed in December.

Other products with significant growth included Vyndaquel, which is used to treat nerve disease; Eliquis, which treats blood clots; and Prevnar, a vaccine for pneumonia.

"I am very pleased by the strong 11 percent operational revenues growth of our non-Covid products in the first quarter," said Chief Financial Officer David Denton.

"We continue to progress our cost realignment program and remain on track to deliver on our targeted goal by the end of the year."

Pfizer said it will deliver "at least" $4 billion in savings by the end of 2024.

The company, which raised its earnings per share projection, has maintained a shareholder dividend. However, it plans no share repurchases in 2024 in favor of pumping funds back into research and development to support the drug pipeline.

Shares of Pfizer rose 1.3 percent in pre-market trading.

jmb/des