Pfizer CEO sets goal to be No. 1 in biotech


Future growth for Pfizer Inc., the world's largest drugmaker, will come from its own laboratories and external deals as it aims to become the No. 1 biotech company, Chief Executive Jeffrey Kindler said on Wednesday.

In a wide-ranging keynote address at a Bank of America investment conference, Kindler also outlined an increasing trend toward working with insurance companies and governments to prove the value of drugs that are under development.

Kindler, previously Pfizer's top lawyer, was named CEO in July, replacing Hank McKinnell who had been criticized by investors for his irascible nature and large compensation package at a time when Pfizer struggled to grow and its stock price fell.

"We are in the process of creating a culture that embraces change," Kindler said.

At the sidelines of the conference, the Pfizer CEO told Reuters that the company's future growth will come from both its existing medicines and outside deals.

He declined to comment, however, on whether Pfizer is interested in acquiring Bristol-Myers Squibb , which earlier this month fired CEO Peter Dolan due, in part, to a botched deal to halt a generic form of Bristol's Plavix blood clot drug.

Kindler said Pfizer is already the No. 8 biotech company in the world, with new products like kidney cancer drug Sutent, and "aspires to become No. 1 in the not too distant future."

He said the combination of a longer-lived population increasingly focused on health will mean big opportunities for drugmakers as long as those who foot the bills are aware that the benefits of new drugs outweigh their cost.

To that end, Pfizer will work more with insurers and government payers before new drugs are developed to make sure they are on board with the treatments, Kindler said.