"Prepare for the Next Pandemic"… Pfizer Establishes COVID Division

Pfizer Korea 'Pfizer Night' Event
Pfizer Focuses on Developing 'First New Drug Within the Group' Beyond 'Pills'

COVID-19 Division Also Oversees mRNA Vaccine Business
Flu mRNA Vaccine and Next-Generation COVID-19 Vaccines, etc.

Odongwook, CEO of Korea Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, is speaking at the 'Pfizer Night' event held on the 19th. / Photo by Chunhee Lee

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Pfizer, which co-developed the world's first COVID-19 vaccine 'Comirnaty' with BioNTech, has launched a COVID business division to proactively prepare for the next pandemic.

Pfizer Korea, the Korean subsidiary of the global big pharma Pfizer, unveiled this vision at the 'Pfizer Night' event held on the 19th. This event also commemorated Pfizer Korea's office relocation. Pfizer Korea ended its 15-year 'Myeongdong era' after moving into the Pfizer Tower in Myeongdong in 2007 and recently relocated its base to the nearby State Tower Namsan earlier this month. The company plans to create a new 'Namsan era' with an open culture, implementing a flexible seating system where all employees, including CEO Oh Dong-wook, do not have assigned offices or seats.

Last year, Pfizer changed its logo from a pill shape (left) to a DNA helix shape. (Photo by Pfizer)

CEO Oh emphasized Pfizer's new vision through the logo change made last year. He said, "The previous logo was a blue pill shape like 'Viagra'," and "It represented a business model focused on small molecules, playing a market share game through sales and marketing rather than innovation." However, the new Pfizer logo "is inspired by the double helix structure of DNA, symbolizing a focus on developing first-in-class drugs within the group," and "it embodies the direction of innovation that changes patients' lives, centered on biologics such as gene therapy and messenger RNA (mRNA), and innovative new drugs."

Specifically, CEO Oh stated, "Pfizer intends to focus not on innovation in all fields but on six areas: rare diseases, internal medicine diseases, inflammation and immune diseases, vaccines, oncology, and infectious diseases," adding, "As of last month, 112 clinical research programs are underway." He also noted, "Among them, 27 are in phase 3, indicating many innovative new drugs are being developed."

Additionally, CEO Oh mentioned that Korea was the third country in the world to receive the oral COVID-19 treatment 'Paxlovid,' emphasizing efforts to ensure that new drugs developed through such processes can be used quickly in Korea. He said, "Innovative new drugs that cannot be covered by existing reimbursement models, such as one-shot gene therapies, are also being introduced," and pledged to create innovative reimbursement models to enhance patient accessibility.

Song Chan-woo, Vice President of the COVID-19 Business Division at Korea Pfizer, is speaking at the 'Pfizer Night' event held on the 19th. / Photo by Lee Chun-hee

As part of this strategy, last month Pfizer Korea launched the 'COVID Business Division,' integrating the Comirnaty and Paxlovid businesses, which previously belonged to the vaccine and hospital business divisions, respectively. Song Chan-woo, Vice President of the COVID Business Division, explained, "This aligns with the overall organizational restructuring of global Pfizer."

Going forward, the COVID Business Division will oversee not only Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccines and treatments but also vaccines based on mRNA technology. In fact, in some overseas countries, this division is referred to as the 'mRNA and Antiviral Franchise Division.'

Vice President Song introduced the pipeline, saying, "Currently, the most advanced is the mRNA flu vaccine, which is in phase 3," and "a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine with improved antigens offering broader coverage and longer durability is in phase 2 development." He also mentioned the development of a 'combo vaccine' combining flu and COVID-19 vaccines and a 'next-generation protease inhibitor' as a follow-up to Paxlovid.

Vice President Song emphasized, "We are not yet in an endemic situation, and we do not know if COVID-19 will be the last pandemic," adding, "Pfizer's role will be important when another pandemic strikes." He stressed, "We will actively collaborate with the government, international organizations, and academia," and "intend to demonstrate leadership in developing and supplying new vaccines and treatments."

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