Andrew Bohm, M.D., chief strategist at Pfizer, is leaving his position two years after joining the New York drugmaker after a long stint as a biopharmaceutical equity research analyst.
Boehm will leave his role as Pfizer’s chief strategy and innovation officer to become a senior strategic advisor to the company’s CEO, Dr. Albert Bourla, before completely separating from the company by the end of this year, Reuters reported on Monday, citing a BMO Capital Markets memo.
BMO analysts said the move “likely reflects the company’s continued operational simplification rather than a major strategic shift,” Reuters reported.
Pfizer did not immediately respond to Fierce Pharma’s request for comment, but said the company “regularly evaluates its business operations to ensure it is best positioned to conduct business in the near term and beyond” and that such changes “will allow Pfizer to move faster, make clearer decisions and advance innovation across the company.”
In addition to Bourla, Bohm will also advise other members of Pfizer’s management team, according to Statistic.
In 2024, Mr. Bohm transitioned from following Pfizer as an analyst to having his own seat as head of global healthcare and managing director of equity research at Citi. At the time, Mr. Bourla praised his “unique combination of deep clinical and scientific knowledge with strong financial expertise” and expressed confidence that Mr. Boehm would bring “fresh strategic insights to the company’s business and portfolio.”
When Bohm joined, Pfizer was emerging from a coronavirus-related growth spurt and was crafting a $4 billion cost realignment program through 2024 to sustain it. Uncertainty from the company’s coronavirus products and vaccine franchise remains, as the company’s 2025 sales were expected to be $62.6 billion, down $1 billion from the previous year.
Still, under Bohm’s strategic leadership, Pfizer has taken steps toward long-term growth. A New York drugmaker has won a surprise bidding war with Novo Nordisk for obesity biotech Metsala for $10 billion. Metsala’s metabolic drug candidate solidifies Pfizer’s position in the evolving obesity market, an area where the company’s internal outlook hasn’t entirely gone well.
Pfizer pivoted to the analyst side of the industry at a time when many big drug companies had experienced market researchers on their executive teams.
Novartis has appointed longtime Sanford Bernstein analyst Dr. Ronnie Gall as head of strategy and growth in 2022, with CEO Vasu Narasimhan emphasizing the benefits of an “independent perspective” independent of sales and R&D teams.
Most recently, Bristol-Myers Squibb selected physician-turned-analyst Chris Shibutani, M.D., as its chief strategy officer to lead the company’s approach to external partnerships and institutional collaborations. Mr. Shibutani, like Mr. Gall and Mr. Bohm, has decades of experience as an industry financial analyst, and his resume includes senior positions at Goldman Sachs and TD Cowen.
