Pfizer’s (NYSE:PFE) CEO Dr. Albert Bourla acknowledged in a statement that he has COVID-19.
Bourla, who is 60, has received four doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine. He also has begun taking a course of the company’s antiviral Paxlovid.
The Pfizer CEO notes that symptoms to date have been very mild.
Pfizer’s revenue has soared during the pandemic, largely thanks to the Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine. Last year, the vaccine almost doubled Pfizer’s revenue to roughly $81 billion in 2021, making it the largest pharma company.
Last week, Bourla noted in an earnings call that the company continues to be well-positioned in the pandemic.
“In the second quarter, we recorded the largest amount of quarterly sales in our history,” Bourla noted in a news release.
The company continues to develop updated COVID-19 vaccine boosters, which the company expects to be commercially available in the early fall.
In July, Pfizer and its partner BioNTech filed paperwork to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for an omicron-specific bivalent COVID-19 vaccine candidate based on the BA.1 sub-lineage.
The FDA has asked Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna to develop an updated bivalent booster with genetic material from the BA.4/BA.5.
Earlier today, the U.K. announced it had approved a bivalent Moderna vaccine that targets the Omicron variant.
Bourla is not the only high-profile to announce a COVID-19 diagnosis in recent weeks.
In late July, President Joe Biden recently became infected with COVID-19. Biden also took Paxlovid after receiving a positive diagnosis.
Pfizer has been on a shopping spree so far in 2022. Most recently, the company announced that it intends to acquire Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT) (Nasdaq:GBT) for $68.50 per share. If it moves forward, the deal would be approximately $5.4 billion.
In May, the company announced its plans to acquire Nurtec ODT manufacturer Biohaven (NYSE:BHVN) for $11.6 billion.
PFE shares were down 0.72% to $49.75.
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