“I would say that it's unlikely for our gross margin rate to fall below 70% in any given quarter.”

In context

“ar with HSBC. Rajesh Kumar: First question is you very helpfully provided some color on the gross margin. What are the takes and puts there? If we look at your early 70s guidance and the gross margin you've achieved in Q1, do we see below 70s gross margin some point in some quarter this year? Or you sort of will get to early 70s with throughout the year, maintaining over 70% margin? And then the bit which is quite difficult to work out from the disclosures is, how did the PAXLOVID number impact the gross margin? So any help there so that we can model that right would be much appreciated. David Denton: Okay. Great. So yes, I think we just gave some color around gross margin being closer to 70% versus closer to 80% when we entered 2024. We are maintaining that color at this point in time. I would say that it's unlikely for our gross margin rate to fall below 70% in any given quarter. But I want to just emphasize the gross margin rate will fluctuate a bit, primarily given the mix of sales, specifically within the vaccine portfolio, which carries a lower gross margin, number one. Number two, when you look at our performance for gross margin in Q1, a dominant effect of that versus last year is the mix, the lower sales volume of COMIRNATY in the quarter in Q1 versus last year's Q1. Obviously, the final adjustment of the PAXLOVID reserve actually did also have a onetime positive impact on the gross margin rate in Q1, but that was less of an impact compared to the mix. So I hope that helps. Albert Bourla: And as I want to emphasize that on PAXLOVID, what really makes me pleased it is the underlying demand of the product, right? So it was approximately in the first quarte”