Pfizer Inc.
Leadership History
3 leaders · 2010 to present
Albert Bourla is the CEO of Pfizer, in the role since 2019. The first chief executive was Ian Read, from 2010.
| Name | Role | From | To | Years in role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Boshoff | Chief Scientific Officer and President, Research & Development | 2025 | Present | 1 |
| Albert Bourla | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | 2019 | Present | 7 |
| Ian Read | Chief Executive Officer | 2010 | 2018 | 8 |
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world by revenue, headquartered at The Spiral, 66 Hudson Boulevard East, New York. It employs about 75,000 people and sells medicines in more than 180 countries. Its history includes Terramycin, Lipitor (via Warner-Lambert), Viagra, Prevnar (via Wyeth) and the Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine developed with BioNTech. The company is headquartered in New York City, New York. Pfizer was founded in 1849 in Brooklyn, New York City, by German immigrant cousins Charles Pfizer and Charles F. Erhart as a fine-chemicals business, expanding over 175 years into a global biopharmaceutical giant discovering penicillin, Lipitor, Viagra, and the landmark COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty.
Pfizer makes money by selling patented prescription medicines and vaccines to wholesalers, hospitals, governments and pharmacies, with the United States as its largest market. Revenue is concentrated in large franchises such as Eliquis (co-commercialized with Bristol Myers Squibb), the Prevnar pneumococcal vaccines, the Vyndaqel tafamidis family, Ibrance, Xtandi and the Seagen antibody-drug conjugates. Pfizer funds internal R&D but sources much of its pipeline externally through acquisitions (Seagen, Metsera) and licensing deals (Innovent, 3SBio), then uses its regulatory, manufacturing and commercial scale to launch products globally during their exclusivity window.
Chief Scientific Officer and President, Research & Development
2025 – Present
1 year (current)
Boshoff led Pfizer's massive pivot toward precision oncology, overseeing the $43 billion acquisition and integration of Seagen.
He completely restructured the research and development organization to focus on antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), aggressively expanding Pfizer's pipeline of cancer therapeutics.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
2019 – Present
7 years (current)
Self-funded Comirnaty development, acquired Seagen and Metsera, launched cost realignment program.
A veterinarian by training who joined Pfizer Animal Health in 1993, Bourla became CEO on January 1, 2019 and Chairman in 2020. He led the Comirnaty partnership with BioNTech, the $43 billion Seagen acquisition, the Metsera obesity deal and the post-COVID cost realignment program.
Chief Executive Officer
2010 – 2018
8 years
Read executed the aggressive spin-offs of Pfizer's animal health (Zoetis) and consumer healthcare divisions to refocus the company purely on high-margin biopharmaceuticals.
He ruthlessly cut R&D spending and eliminated tens of thousands of jobs, significantly boosting short-term earnings per share despite massive patent cliffs for blockbuster drugs like Lipitor.
These officers report to the chief executive and are not part of the CEO timeline above.
Pfizer faces loss of exclusivity on Eliquis, Ibrance, Xtandi and other products later this decade, Medicare price negotiation under the Inflation Reduction Act, falling COVID product sales (about $4 billion expected in 2026), late entry into obesity, R&D productivity questions and debt from the Seagen financing.
Dr. Albert Bourla is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pfizer, taking the helm on January 1, 2019. Bourla led Pfizer through the COVID-19 pandemic, authorizing the self-funded development of the Comirnaty mRNA vaccine and Paxlovid antiviral, executing the $43B Seagen acquisition, and transforming Pfizer into a science-first commercial leader.
Ian Read served as CEO of Pfizer from 2010 to 2018. Read successfully navigated the loss of patent exclusivity on Lipitor (for years the world's best-selling drug), divested non-core nutrition (to Nestlé) and animal health (spinning off Zoetis in a $2.2B IPO), and spearheaded the acquisitions of Hospira and Medivation.
Jeffrey Kindler, former general counsel of Pfizer, served as CEO from 2006 to 2010. Kindler orchestrated the landmark $68 billion mega-acquisition of Wyeth in 2009, bringing the Prevnar vaccine franchise and Enbrel into Pfizer before stepping down in late 2010.
Dr. Hank McKinnell served as CEO of Pfizer from 2001 to 2006, leading the $60 billion acquisition of Pharmacia in 2002 (bringing Celebrex into Pfizer) and driving Lipitor sales past $12 billion annually.
William C. Steere Jr. served as CEO of Pfizer from 1991 to 2001. When American Home Products attempted to acquire Warner-Lambert in 1999, Steere launched a historic $90 billion hostile takeover of Warner-Lambert in 2000 to secure 100% control of blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor.
In 2022, Albert Bourla authored the bestselling book 'Moonshot: Inside Pfizer's Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible', detailing the scientific, logistical, and geopolitical battles behind creating, scaling, and distributing the world's first approved mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.
Key senior executives include Dr. Chris Boshoff (Chief Scientific Officer and President, Research & Development since January 2025), Alexandre de Germay (Chief International Commercial Officer), Jennifer B. Damico (Senior Vice President and Controller), and interim CFO Cecile Guegan, who replaced David Denton on August 16, 2026.
Albert Bourla has dedicated Pfizer's future to oncology, aiming to double the number of cancer patients treated with Pfizer therapies by 2030 through the clinical delivery of 8+ blockbuster oncology medicines powered by Seagen ADC technology.
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