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Albert Bourla

Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer

Search every verified Albert Bourla interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Albert Bourla, chairman and CEO of Pfizer, discussed the role of artificial intelligence in healthcare during appearances in September 2026 at Atlantic Council events held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. He described AI as a transformative force in drug discovery, development, manufacturing, and marketing, while also acknowledging risks, including the potential for AI tools to be used to engineer biological threats. Bourla said the COVID-19 pandemic represented an existential threat with no upside, whereas AI presents both threats and opportunities, and he expressed a belief that humanity generally progresses toward improvement over time. He also commented on US-China relations in biotech, stating that the two countries should both cooperate and compete, and praised China's scientific capabilities. In an August 2026 interview with TIME, Bourla reflected on Pfizer's post-pandemic challenges, including a decline in stock price, and described his focus on finding a new path and rallying the organization. He discussed Pfizer's entry into the obesity treatment market, citing the high need and the company's capabilities in primary care. During Pfizer's Q2 2026 earnings call, Bourla stated that the company views AI as a structural transformation opportunity to accelerate its R&D pipeline and improve productivity. He also said Pfizer was confident it could maintain its dividend even in stretched scenarios, with plans to resume growth after the loss of exclusivity period. Bourla has previously stated that the pharmaceutical industry's reputation suffered in the last decade and that behavior within the industry needed to change.

Recent appearances

Verified interview transcripts

Notable quotes

“I think US and China should collaborate and compete at the same time because competition is good thing and produces better results. And particularly in the biotech area. First of all, let me say that I have been enormously impressed with the scientific capabilities that China developed in biotech. There are a lot of discussions they are still in patents. That's way behind us. We are way beyond that thing. They are ve”

“I think US and China should collaborate and should compete at the same time because competition is good thing and produce better results and particularly in the biotech area. First of all, let me say that I have been enormously impressed with the scientific capabilities that China developed in biotech. There are a lot of discussions they are still in patents that's way behind us we are way beyond that thing they are ”

“AI is transformative. Uh AI will change the way that we discover and develop medicines, the way we manufacture medicines, the way that we market medicines. And the changes will be so deep and disruptive that I believe will generate new winners and new losers. Uh there will be companies that will find themselves on the top of the list because they got it right. And there are companies that will find themselves at the ”

“The obesity is an area that it is growing very fast. So, the patients, the needs of humanity to address it is very, very high. And with the GLP-1s was the first time that um we had medical class, a medicine class that could bring serious results. When we decided to go there, we looked at the need as we did with oncology. We need also the science and we needed our capabilities. And our capabilities were ideal to win i”

“Reputation is something that you can lose in buckets but you can earn it back in drops and once you lost it you are going to take a lot of effort to bring it back and the pharmaceutical industry lost it. It's clear that the reputation of the industry in the last decade was on the lowest that we have seen ever and for there are many reasons for that but clearly there are reasons that are related also with the behavior”

“I think about it all the time and I know very well that if you focus too much on making money, you will never make. You should focus in what is the real value driver and the real value driver it is to make breakthroughs that change patients lives. If you don't do that you will never make money. If you do that don't worry things will fall into place and also money will follow.”

Other executives at Pfizer

  • Sally Susman, Former Executive VP & Chief Corporate Affairs Officer

The summary and quote tags on this profile are produced with AI assistance from verified, first-person interview transcripts, then checked by our team to confirm the speaker's identity and the accuracy of every quote. See how we verify →