Pfizer’s boss thinks covid-19 is reshaping Big Pharma for the better

“THE IMPOSSIBLE can many times become possible,” reflects Albert Bourla, boss of Pfizer. He is talking about the giant American drugmaker’s speedy development (with BioNTech of Germany) of a vaccine against covid-19. The sentiment also applies to the turnaround in the fortunes of the pharmaceutical industry.Before the pandemic Big Pharma was in big trouble. It was widely criticised for investing more in marketing than in research, for pursuing “me too” drugs over novel therapies, and for alleged price-gouging. When Gallup, a pollster, asked Americans in 2019 to rank two dozen big industries by favourability, the drugs business came in last. That year its bosses were subjected to a Big Tobacco-style bipartisan hazing in Congress, which threatened price controls. Concerns over diminishing research gains, and returns, weighed on drugmakers’ share prices (see chart).