Activist investor Starboard Value has a roughly $1 billion stake in pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and is seeking to mount a turnaround at the struggling company, according to people familiar with the matter.
Starboard believes that Pfizer's current leadership, under CEO Albert Bourla, has stepped away from historically disciplined cost structure and investment in novel drugs.
One particularly concerning example to Starboard was Pfizer's acquisition of Global Blood Therapeutics.
Pfizer pulled a drug for sickle cell disease it got just two years ago via the roughly $5 billion acquisition.
Still, more than $100 billion in shareholder value has evaporated since the Covid-19 pandemic faded largely into the rearview mirror.
Persons:
Ian Read, Frank D'Amelio, Albert Bourla, Oxbryta, Read, Jeff Smith, Angelica Peebles
Organizations:
Pfizer, Blood Therapeutics, Autodesk, Street