Pfizer CEO says he developed 'good relation' with RFK Jr., highlights Trump's pride in vaccine work

As one of the largest vaccine makers, Pfizer has a big part of its business hinging on potential immunization policy changes under the incoming Trump administration. So when vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was offered the top job at the Department of Health and Human Services, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla knew he had to meet the possible health czar.

Bourla on Tuesday confirmed his recent dinner with Trump at the President-elect’s Mar-a-Lago residence, along with RFK Jr. Eli Lilly’s CEO David Ricks was also in attendance.

“I don’t want to speak about the details of what we discussed during that dinner because I want to respect the privacy, but we developed a good relation with Mr. Kennedy,” Bourla said during an investor call Tuesday.

“If he’s confirmed, we will work with him to make sure that we advance the right policies,” Bourla said, adding that Pfizer is interested in policies, not politics.

As an antivaccine activist, RFK Jr. has propelled debunked theories that blame vaccines for autism and other chronic diseases. When his HHS nomination was announced, Pfizer’s stock price—along with the share prices of several other vaccine makers—dropped.

But the new HHS pick himself recently said that he’s “not going to take anyone’s vaccines away from them.” So it still remains unclear just how—if at all—the new administration would limit or discourage vaccination.

Without commenting on RFK Jr.’s thinking, Pfizer’s Bourla on Tuesday instead focused on his “very long-lasting relationship” with President Trump, spanning back to the president’s prior term.

“The President is extremely proud, and of course, we are extremely proud, that [Pfizer] basically delivered a vaccine through this landmark golden standard program, the Operation Warp Speed […] that saved millions of lives,” Bourla said.

During a news conference on Monday, Trump said he personally is a “big believer” in the polio vaccine, according to the Associated Press. The statement came after a recent revelation that one of RFK Jr.’s advisers had filed a petition to revoke the approval for polio vaccines in 2022.

“You’re not going to lose the polio vaccine,” Trump said. “That’s not going to happen.”

“He’s going to be much less radical than you would think,” Trump said of RFK Jr., as quoted by the AP. “I think he’s got a very open mind, or I wouldn’t have put him there.”

Pfizer has a big part of its business resting on vaccines, with more coming down the pipeline. In the first nine months of 2024, the Prevnar family of pneumococcal vaccines was Pfizer’s third-largest franchise, generating $4.85 billion in sales. BioNTech-partnered COVID vaccine Comirnaty contributed $1.97 billion during the period, ranking sixth in the company’s portfolio.

Pfizer is also at the beginning of the critical—and competitive—launch of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine Abrysvo. A recent CDC restriction on RSV vaccinations already showed what a negative policy development can do to vaccine uptake. GSK’s Arexvy, which had a small first-mover advantage in the RSV market, saw its sales plummet 74% year over year in the third quarter because of the updated CDC guidelines.

Pfizer’s Abrysvo is also the only RSV shot approved by the FDA for maternal vaccination to protect infants from lower respiratory tract disease, making it all the more vulnerable to potential immunization policy changes.

At least for now, Pfizer assumes that there will be no material vaccine policy changes in the U.S. in 2025, CFO Dave Denton said on Tuesday’s investor call.

Meanwhile, looking into the R&D pipeline, Pfizer and BioNTech are evaluating adjustments to their COVID-influenza combo vaccine candidate after disappointing results in August.