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Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said that he is constantly engaging with US President Donald Trump and lawmakers to head off the threat of punitive US tariffs on pharmaceutical imports.
In a recorded appearance at Semafor’s World Economy Summit Friday, Bourla said most of his time is now spent trying to “influence the decision” on potential pharma tariffs to ensure that “everybody understands the consequences of every single step that we may take,” and to offer solutions.
Last week, the Trump administration announced probes into pharmaceutical imports, citing national security concerns over the US’ reliance on imported drugs. In recent months, the president has also threatened to impose a 25% or higher tariff on foreign-made pharmaceuticals.
Bourla said a volatile market environment can be especially disastrous for investments in innovative drugs, which face only a 12% approval rate by the FDA.
“Investments that we do now will give us revenues in 15 years from now,” the Pfizer CEO said. “Now imagine if we don’t know even in the short term” how the market will be — “it’s very, very challenging.”
“We have a plan that we have articulated for every scenario from catastrophic to, let’s say, very easy to handle,” Bourla said.
Bourla said Pfizer has “a very big manufacturing network in the US” and most of its medicines when measured by volume are made there. But some of the company’s priciest offerings are made elsewhere. Asked whether more of Pfizer’s manufacturing could be done in the US, he said, “It’s a question of incentives.”
The pharma CEO also warned the US could lose pole position in medical innovation due to government funding cuts and a decline in private sector investment, saying he would do “everything I can to defend” medical research funding. He raised concerns about the national security implications of China surpassing the US in innovation.
“Imagine the new pandemic when all the solutions will come from China rather than they will come from the United States for the world,” he said. “That makes a significant difference.”
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The threat to the US’ dominance of medical innovation is compounded by the fact that over the last four years, private sector funding has “dramatically reduced,” which Bourla blamed on Biden-era policies such as drug price controls.
Meanwhile, China has been doing the exact opposite, he said — implementing policies that encouraged innovation, and modernizing their version of the FDA.
On a more positive note, Bourla said the industry is seeing regular breakthroughs in cancer research.
“I think science has matured enough to be able to see every month something new and positive, every quarter something important and every year something that really changes the game,” he said. “But I’m very optimistic that we will see the needle [move] very, very fast.”
The Semafor View
The boundaryless pools of money that defined finance in the last 20 years are retreating, and capital is becoming a national resource to be protected. Public and private markets seem set to converge: Where they meet — and which firms stake out territory — could determine finance’s winners over the next decade.
Read more in The Semafor View ->