Albert Bourla

Albert Bourla is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Pfizer. He joined the company in 1993 and has held several executive roles across Pfizer's divisions, including Zoetis (then known as Animal Health), the Vaccines, Oncology and Consumer Healthcare business, and Pfizer Innovative Health. Prior to his promotion to CEO, Bourla served as chief operating officer. In addition to the boards of Pfizer and the Pfizer Foundation, he has served on the boards of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, Catalyst (nonprofit organization), the Partnership for New York City, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Bourla is also a member of The Business Council and the Business Roundtable.
==Early life and education==
Bourla was born in Greece. He earned his doctorate in the biotechnology of reproduction at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki's Veterinary School.
==Career==
Bourla joined Pfizer in 1993, first serving as a doctor of veterinary medicine and technical director for the company's animal health division in Greece. He held multiple executive roles at Zoetis (then known as Animal Health) and other divisions of Pfizer. He served as area president for Animal Health's Europe, Africa and Middle East division during 2005–2009, followed by the Europe, Africa, and Asia Pacific division during 2009–2010. In the latter role, he managed the merger of Wyeth's Fort Dodge Animal Health business with Pfizer in these regions.
Bourla served as president and general manager of Pfizer's Established Products Business Unit during 2010–2013. According to The Financial, in this role "he advanced the company's efforts to build a strong post-patent business by spear-heading efforts that maximized the lifecycle of key brands following loss of exclusivity". He later served as group president of Pfizer's Vaccines, Oncology and Consumer Healthcare business, where he led Pfizer's work on cancer and heart drugs, among others, and helped launch the drugs Eliquis and Ibrance, an anticoagulant and breast cancer treatment drug, respectively.
Bourla held the role of global vaccines chief, before being promoted to group president of Pfizer Innovative Health, effective January 1, 2016. During his tenure, Innovative Health's revenue increased by eleven percent in 2016. Bourla became Pfizer's chief operating officer (COO) on January 1, 2018, overseeing the company's drug development, manufacturing, sales, and strategy. He restructured Pfizer and spun-off the consumer health care business during his tenure as COO. He was promoted to the chief executive officer (CEO) role in October 2018, effective January 1, 2019, succeeding Ian Read.
Bourla was one of seven chief executives of pharmaceutical companies who participated in a February 2019 United States Senate Committee on Finance hearing on prescription drug prices in the United States. In April 2019, he was presented with the award for "Preeminent Greek Leader" of the global pharmaceutical industry by Geoffrey R. Pyatt, in his role as United States Ambassador to Greece, at the Prix Galien Greece Awards ceremony. In January 2020, Bourla assumed the additional post of executive chairman, upon Pfizer's announcement in late 2019 that Read would retire from the position after eight years.
In 2020, Bourla pushed for aggressive timelines in Pfizer's development of a possible vaccine against COVID-19. He determined production of a potential vaccine would begin, at risk, while awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), although expected as soon as October 2020. In late July 2020, the company was among top developers of a potential vaccine, in partnership with BioNTech, as they entered late-stage trials with mRNA, BNT162b2.
===Board service and memberships===
Bourla has served on the Health Section Governing board of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, the world's largest biotechnology trade association. He joined Pfizer's board of directors in February 2018, and also serves on the board of the Pfizer Foundation. Bourla is a board member of Catalyst (nonprofit organization), a global nonprofit organization promoting the advancement of women, the Partnership for New York City, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a trade association representing companies in the pharmaceutical industry in the United States.
Bourla is a member of The Business Council, an organization of business leaders headquartered in Washington, D.C., and the Business Roundtable, a group of chief executives of major U.S. corporations established to promote pro-business public policy.
==References==
==External links==
* Albert Bourla at Bloomberg.com
* Albert Bourla at C-SPAN
* How the next wave of technologies will disrupt healthcare: Q&A with Pfizer's Albert Bourla (April 18, 2017), Wired UK
Category:1960s births
Category:Living people
Category:Aristotle University of Thessaloniki alumni
Category:Chief executive officers
Category:Chief operating officers
Category:Greek businesspeople
Category:Greek emigrants to the United States
Category:Pfizer people