Johnson & Johnson said it expects to generate as much as $3.5 billion from the sale of its Covid-19 vaccine this year compared to $2.39 billion in 2021, in a sign of easing manufacturing problems and increasing demand.

Delivery delays and an uneven demand during last year resulted in the drugmaker narrowly missing its goal of garnering $2.50bn in vaccine sales in 2021, according to Reuters.

J&J shares fell nearly two per cent before the opening bell as overall fourth-quarter sales also missed market expectations due to a bleak performance by a few of the big revenue drivers such as cancer drug Imbruvica and Crohn's disease treatment Stelara.