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In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen

HIGHLIGHTS: Albert Bourla - CEO of Pfizer

In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen

Norges Bank Investment Management

Norges Bank, Business, Nicolai Tangen, In Good Company

4.7 • 236 Ratings

🗓️ 22 May 2026

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We've curated a special 10-minute version of the podcast for those in a hurry.  

 

Here you can listen to the full episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/no/podcast/pfizer-ceo-transforming-drug-discovery-lessons-from/id1614211565?i=1000768670399&l=nb

Nicolai Tangen meets Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla for a wide-ranging conversation on leadership, science, and the future of global healthcare. Bourla reflects on leading Pfizer through the COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough and how it transformed the company. The discussion also dives into Pfizer’s strategic shift toward innovative medicine, including major investments in oncology and obesity, and the high-stakes decisions behind multibillion-dollar acquisitions. 

Looking ahead, the conversation explores how artificial intelligence is set to transform drug discovery, clinical trials, and the broader healthcare system. Bourla offers a candid view on global competition, particularly the rapid rise of China in biotech, and what it will take for companies like Pfizer to stay ahead. Beyond business, Bourla opens up about leadership, how to build resilience, foster organizational confidence, and continuously evolve as a CEO. He also shares a deeply personal story about his mother, a Holocaust survivor, and how her perspective shaped his optimism and drive.

In Good Company is hosted by Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management. New full episodes every Wednesday, and don't miss our Highlight episodes every Friday. 

 

The production team for this episode includes Isabelle Karlsson and PLAN-B's Niklas Figenschau Johansen, Sebastian Langvik-Hansen and Pål Huuse. Background research was conducted by Isabelle Karlsson.

 


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hi, everybody. Tune in to this short version of the podcast, which we do every Friday for the long version.

0:06.5

Tune in on Wednesdays.

0:08.8

Hi, everyone, and welcome to In Good Company. I'm Nicolae Tangen, the head of the Norwegian Soverealth Fund.

0:14.1

And today, I'm in particularly a good company because I'm here with Albert Burla, who is the chairman and CEO of Pfizer, one of the largest pharma companies in the world.

0:22.9

Now, Alberti has been with Pfizer for 30 years, been CEO since 2019, and has led the company through

0:28.6

a remarkable period of change. Warm welcome.

0:31.5

Thank you very much. And, you know, I'm with Pfizer 33 years.

0:34.1

I'm with my wife 30.

0:36.6

Oh, right. I got it mixed up there.

0:38.3

Yes, yes.

0:39.3

Now, a lot of stuff has happened since you took over as CEO.

0:42.3

What are you most excited about just now?

0:45.3

I think I'm always excited by the future, like all CEOs, right?

0:50.3

They see the opportunities ahead.

0:52.3

And science is at the highest levels we ever had it and science is

0:59.1

affecting our business a very big time so i'm very very optimistic about the scientific progress

1:05.1

that we can see in the next years until the end of the decade you sharpened the focus on on innovative medicine, so love for consumer health care and so on.

1:13.8

Why did you think that was the right decision to make?

1:16.2

I'm a believer that, you know, corporations' role is not to hedge.

1:21.7

It is to be very good, a few things.

1:24.6

Investors' role is to head.

1:26.0

So I believe that requires different

...

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