There are a lot of technologies that are trying to use gene editing, so that they are trying to use the same technology to be able to change, or repair, the mistake of your DNA so that you can cure, basically, those people.
These are just three of the very hot cutting-edge technological fronts that right now we are working on.
FREDERICK KEMPE: And what’s most promising among those? Are we closer now to something regarding cancer and mRNA? Or where do you see those three the most promise over the short to medium term?
ALBERT BOURLA: I hope so. I hope so. We don’t have success yet over there as we didn’t have a success in vaccines before COVID-19. I hope so. But which one is the most promising? I would say that [for] infectious diseases, now we have a very good proof of concept that this works to attack foreign invaders, viruses, or other microbials. I think that’s the most likely to bring fruits faster.
FREDERICK KEMPE: So now let’s talk about the period of time from March 20, 2020, to today. It must have just been an incredible moment of intensity for you. But as you went through this period, what has struck you most positively and negatively? What do you feel that you’ve learned through this very, very intensive period, which by the way, is still ongoing?
ALBERT BOURLA: I would say two things. The first one, it is, clearly, the one that stands out for me. It is that when it comes to leadership, people don’t know what they can and cannot do and, if anything, they have a severe tendency to underestimate what they can achieve. And if people are given the resources and they are given a very big goal, if you force them to think big, they will surprise you with what type of solutions to any single problem they will bring.
When it comes to leadership, people don’t know what they can and cannot do and, if anything, they have a severe tendency to underestimate what they can achieve. And if people are given the resources and they are given a very big goal, if you force them to think big, they will surprise you.
ALBERT BOURLA, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, PFIZER
So, for me, that was a leadership lesson that was very important, and I will never forget. On the leadership again, if there is something that I regret, for example, you know, we went through a lot of pressure, and I had to put a lot of pressure [on] my people. I don’t regret that I did that because I know that without that, we wouldn’t be here, and I know that my people don’t mind that I put a lot of pressure [on] them because they knew that this is what was needed.
