So, Albert, thank you so much for joining us on this very special day for you at Pfizer. You had your first quarter results out, which were strong and beat estimates. As you look at those results, why do you think you beat the estimates and what does it tell you about the rest of the year?
Well, it's about execution. We were very focused and our commercial investing, which is basically the reflection of these commercial results, is one of a kind. They are very, very good. They understand the customer, they understand the patients, they understand the physicians. And they were able to detail the benefits of our product. So we really did very well, particularly with new and acquired products that grew 22% in the quarter, 22%.
Let's talk about those new and acquired, because a lot of people who are investors in Pfizer say that it really is about the pipeline, what's coming down the pipeline because of some things coming off a patent. What can you tell us about that pipeline where you are right now? And what should we be focused on, particularly in that pipeline?
Look, let me start with the pipeline that we acquired or the businesses that we acquired. We invested almost $80 billion in the last few years in acquiring molecules, pipelines, businesses that will help us overcome the loss of patent period that starts this year. Three account for 80% of this 80 billion. Seagen did extremely well commercially, 20% growth this quarter and also even more importantly, significant readouts in bladder cancer. And we are now expecting significant readouts in lymphoma. So it's transformative for us. The second one is the Biohaven. That was the migraine acquisition that is growing 41% this quarter and is having more claims that are coming into the next couple of years. And the third was the Seagen, which is our on the obesity platform of peptides that we announced a record ten phase three starts this program starting this year. So that's what drives performance.
As you look at your pipeline, either as it is now or how you might like it to be, there's a lot of cancer emphasis and also obesity, as you just said. Would you like to enhance the pipeline in either of those areas or would you be interested in other areas?
Constantly are looking to enhance the pipeline in the areas that we are strong because we can select rightly and we can combine. So we are looking things in oncology, although we have probably one of the largest pipeline of oncology drugs right now in Pfizer, we are looking clearly to complement it in obesity. Also we have from acquired, from Seagen, etc., a very big bag of molecules. Many combinations with GLP-1s, but they are progressing very, very nicely. But we are looking also for the next generation of obesity medicines that we are trying internally and through acquisition. And we are interested to build up also our immunology franchise. We had a very good readout of three specific for atopic dermatitis that now we are trying in asthma and COPD. Very, very impressive, strong results and that could be the core on which we will build to enhance the inflammation and immunology portfolio.
For those of us on the outside watching these developments, all the readouts you're getting, the testing, you're getting the results, give us a scorecard. How do you keep score on whether you are where you need to be on developing the new drugs?
We are keeping score every quarter and every six months and every year and over the years. Already this year we announced in the beginning of the year we need to have full regulatory approvals and half of them has been already achieved. Almost in one quarter we announced that we want to have significant readouts and so far we had three or four of them already occurring and we announced that they are going to start 20 clinical trials and we are monitoring when each one of them starts. The same is with our commercial operations. We are monitoring how we are doing in terms of market share, how we are doing in terms of revenues, and the same is on our margins. We are deploying AI in ways that allows us to improve our productivity, dramatic reduction and that allows us to increase margins.
Tell us about AI, because we hear about that a fair amount in pharmaceuticals and specifically at Pfizer. Can you give us any specific examples where it really moved you forward faster?
Absolutely. We were reviewing with our board the first molecule that we were able to completely design through AI just two weeks ago and three months ago, we wouldn't be able to do it. And three months later we have already a molecule already designed right in the first. But also I want to say that what it speaks about the AI, there are two different areas. One, it is what technology can do now and cannot do everything, but it clearly can do much more than we are used to. And the bottleneck for something like that is not technological limitations. It is organizational ability to transform itself into an AI-native organization. It is inertia, it is fear of people. It is people that don't understand the language of AI. These are the things that we are trying to do, correct. They are going to change the way that we do things and as a result, because of this big disruption, will create the new list of winners and losers and those that they will be able to transform themselves by using AI will be on the top of their list and those that they will not, will be going to the bottom. Pfizer wants to be on the very, very top of this list.
One of the challenges for the CEO of such a big and complex company as Pfizer is you have to do more than one thing at a time. I don't mean just develop more than one pharmaceutical at a time. You have to really manage the costs. At the same time you're investing in the R&D and the development. How are you coming on that front?
You're right that you need to multitask if you are a CEO and you mentioned some of the things that the R&D, which is my passion and I want to work with my scientists to understand what we can do, of course, to control the cost of what we have to do. Also politics. You are asking me? So I was spending more time in Washington than with my R&D people the whole last year and this year in the beginning. So you need to be able to multitask. And as long as you have a good compass and a North Star, you know where the organization should go and you select the right people that they can take you there, you are.
Okay. You do spend some time in Washington. I understand it. And part of that, I suspect, is with the FDA, Mr. Makary. And there are a lot of reporting about Mr. Makary. I'm not going to ask about that specifically, but how is the FDA been for you? They were going to revolutionize the way they approve new medicines. Are you seeing that in practical effect?
I do not see it yet, but I wouldn't expect to see it also in such a short period of time. I'm very encouraged with the comments that they made. Marty Makary made some comments recently about how he plans to modernize the FDA so that we can accelerate drug development because China has already eaten our lunch. I have seen Dr. Oz speaking about how we can make clinical trials much more productive. So I'm encouraged by that. We haven't seen it yet, but I'm encouraged that they are thinking in the right direction.
