Pfizer elevates Chris Boshoff to top R&D role

Pfizer has named chief oncology officer Dr Chris Boshoff to the new role of chief of R&D, as the company faces down criticism of its recent efforts to develop and build its pipeline.

He is replacing Dr Mikael Dolsten whose departure from Pfizer was announced in July, bringing a 15-year-plus career at the pharma group to a close, effective 1st January.

The shake-up in Pfizer's R&D leadership comes as the company is trying to adapt to the post-pandemic world, where massive windfall revenues from Comirnaty and Paxlovid have dried up and it is trying new avenues for growth, such as antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and bispecific antibodies for cancer.

Boshoff will retain overall responsibility for Pfizer's dedicated oncology R&D operation, whose structure will remain unchanged from what was announced earlier this year, and reflects the company's continued focus on cancer as a key R&D target.

He will be supported by Roger Dansey, who has been named interim chief oncology officer until a permanent replacement is found, and Johanna Bendell, who joins Pfizer as oncology chief development officer from Roche.

Dansey was chief medical officer of ADC specialist Seagen, which Pfizer acquired for $43 billion last year, and he plans to retire from Pfizer after a new chief oncology officer is appointed.

"Dr Boshoff is the ideal leader to propel Pfizer's R&D engine forward and transform it into a world-leading organisation with a more focused strategy, driving the delivery of additional impactful breakthrough medicines with blockbuster potential," said chief executive Albert Bourla.

Bourla has been fighting off criticism of the leadership and strategy of Pfizer by hedge fund Starboard Value, which claims that at least $20 billion in the company's value has been drained away from the group since 2019 as it has "dramatically underperformed" its peers in the industry.

High up in the list of criticisms are a $70 billion acquisition spree that Starboard believes will fall well short of the returns that the drugmaker has forecasted and inefficiencies in Pfizer's R&D operation that it claims have resulted in a poor output of new products between 2019 and 2023.

Starboard has also claimed that Pfizer's target of launching 15 new blockbusters made in 2018 is looking "completely unachievable," referencing a disappointing obesity programme.

The appointment of an internal candidate to the chief R&D role – Boshoff has worked for the company for more than a decade – may come as something of a surprise, given that some investors had been calling for new blood to be brought in from elsewhere to shake things up. It is understood that Boshoff was selected after a months-long vetting process that included external candidates.

Shortly after Boshoff's appointment was announced, Pfizer also revealed two new deals under a strategic-level $7 billion R&D alliance with Flagship Pioneering that started last year, designed to deliver up to 10 drug candidates.

Pfizer had agreed to work with two new start-ups incubated by the venture capital firm – Montai Therapeutics and Ampersand Biomedicines – focusing on lung cancer and obesity programmes, respectively. Specific financial terms for the new deals were not disclosed.

The alliance has previously resulted in a partnership between Pfizer and ProFound Medicines, also focusing on obesity and a cardiovascular and renal diseases programme with Quotient Therapeutics.