"Saved Many Lives" Pfizer CEO Named CNN's 'CEO of the Year'

Bulla Pfizer CEO "Omicron Variant Controlled with Current Vaccines"

Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] The CEO of Pfizer, a global pharmaceutical company that developed the COVID-19 vaccine and oral treatment, has been selected as 'CEO of the Year' by the U.S. media outlet CNN Business.

On the 25th (local time), CNN Business named Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, as 'CEO of the Year,' stating, "The COVID-19 pandemic is still not over, but our lives have now returned to a level similar to normalcy," and explained, "This was made possible thanks to COVID-19 vaccinations, including the vaccine developed by Pfizer."

CNN Business also mentioned other strong candidates such as Lisa Su, CEO of semiconductor developer AMD, and Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla.

However, it stated that the reason why the economies of the United States and several other countries have been able to stabilize is due to Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, which is why Bourla was selected as CEO of the Year.

The outlet also referred to Pfizer's oral treatment, Paxlovid. Paxlovid, an oral COVID-19 treatment in pill form, works by inhibiting the protease enzyme (3CL protease) necessary for the coronavirus to replicate, thereby preventing the virus from multiplying.

Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine / Photo by Yonhap News

Previously, Pfizer announced clinical trial results showing that administering Paxlovid to patients within five days of COVID-19 infection reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 88%. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the emergency use of this pill on the 22nd.

CEO Bourla expressed his thoughts on the selection, saying, "Pfizer has done a lot for humanity, and we are very proud of this," adding, "(Thanks to the vaccine) we were able to save many lives and also enhance the company's reputation."

He also acknowledged the anxiety of parents who find it difficult to vaccinate their children, emphasizing, "We are focusing our efforts on providing solutions for this."

Regarding the Omicron variant, which is rapidly spreading worldwide including in South Africa and Europe, he said, "I believe the current vaccines can control it well," but did not rule out the possibility of developing a variant-specific vaccine.

CEO Bourla added that Pfizer has already started developing an Omicron vaccine and expects to release clinical trial results by March 2022.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.