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Pfizer’s chief scientist, Mikael Dolsteyn, is stepping down after leading the company’s research and development for the past 15 years, a period that included Pfizer’s remarkable success in developing a COVID-19 vaccine, but which leaves the company at a crossroads.
Pfizer on Tuesday Start your search Pfizer has decided to select a successor to Dolsten, who became chief scientific officer and head of research and development in 2010. The process is expected to continue “possibly into early next year,” the company said.
Pfizer said Dolsten will assist with the search and remain in his role until a successor has been found and “necessary transitions are completed.”
Dorsten is a veteran drug hunter who held key research positions at Boehringer Ingelheim, AstraZeneca and Wyeth before joining Pfizer. He joined Pfizer after the company acquired Wyeth in a megamerger worth $68 billion in 2009 and was subsequently tasked with leading the company’s drug research and development through mid-stage trials.
During that time, Pfizer has had multiple CEO changes, focused on branded medicines and separated its animal health and consumer health divisions. Cutting back on neuroscience research and branched out further into oncology and gene therapy.
Since Dorsten took over, Pfizer has won approval for more than 35 drugs and vaccines, more than half of which are new molecules, the company said. These include the immunotherapy drug Xeljanz, the respiratory syncytial virus vaccine Abrisvo, and the transthyretin amyloidosis drug Vyndamax. The company also won the first approval for a gene therapy drug. Hemophilia B Treatment Bekbezearlier this year.
Perhaps most notably, Dorsten led the development of Comirnaty, a COVID vaccine. Pfizer developed the vaccine in collaboration with biotechnology partner BioNTech.The vaccine was the first to receive approval in 2020, less than a year after scientists identified SARS-CoV-2, and quickly became one of the most profitable medicines in history. Pfizer followed suit with Paxlovid, an antiviral treatment for COVID that also generated more than $1 billion in annual sales.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla in a statement called Dorsten the “architect” of Pfizer’s research and development. “Michael is an outstanding scientist, physician and leader, and his work will undoubtedly leave an important mark on the legacy of this 175-year-old company,” Bourla said.
But there have been major setbacks. Pfizer Withdrawal from gene therapy research In recent years, it has been attracting attention as one of the promising treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The clinical trial failed last month.The company pulled out of neuroscience in 2018, several years before the recent approval of a drug for Alzheimer’s disease. A cancer immunotherapy it developed with Merck KGaA was not a blockbuster, and Pfizer The rights were sold In therapy last year.
Pfizer has also spent years The failure of research into non-opioid painkillers and Failure in developing anti-obesity drugsThe latter failure may mean the most to investors, as Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk quickly grew into some of the most valuable companies in their industries thanks to the success of their now-famous weight-loss drugs.
Those setbacks, combined with a sharp decline in billions of dollars in COVID-related pharmaceutical revenue, have put Pfizer in a precarious position as it searches for a new research leader. actively Reduce spending Last year, Chris BoshoffTaking over oncology researchThe stock has lost more than half its value since peaking at about $59 per share in 2021.
Pfizer is Acquisition of Siegen in 2023 The company is awaiting the results of an important study on obesity that could not only revitalize sales growth but also have a significant impact on the future.
“Leading research and development at Pfizer has been the journey of a lifetime,” said Mikael Dolsten, chief scientific officer and president, Pfizer Research and Development. “I look forward to working closely with Albert to find a new leader who can build on our success and deliver additional breakthroughs to patients in need.”
