A Conversation with Chris Boshoff: Leading Pfizer’s Oncology Organization

Pfizer is focused on executing its 2024 priority of achieving world-class Oncology leadership. During the company’s first-ever Oncology Innovation Day on February 29^th, Pfizer’s Oncology leadership showcased their bold vision and strategic priorities for the organization. With the completed acquisition and integration of Seagen Inc. – a world leader in Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) technology – Pfizer has significantly expanded its Oncology organization, capabilities and portfolio to amplify its efforts to deliver the next generation of treatment breakthroughs for patients with cancer.

As a member of Pfizer’s executive leadership team, Chris Boshoff, Chief Oncology Officer, Executive Vice President, is responsible for further advancing Pfizer’s Oncology portfolio. Boshoff heads the Oncology Research and Development (R&D) organization from drug discovery to early and late-phase clinical development and also leads Pfizer’s U.S. Oncology commercial operations.

Boshoff joined Investor Insights for a conversation on Pfizer Oncology and to give additional insight into his plans for the organization. Read more below on what to expect from Pfizer Oncology.

Investor Insights: With the Seagen acquisition announced a little over a year ago and completed in late 2023, what was the guiding philosophy when merging the two organizations?

Chris Boshoff: The guiding principle was to retain talent from both organizations. We took a best of both approach designed to amplify the expertise and the depth of capabilities from both companies. We have approximately 50-50 representation of Seagen and Pfizer colleagues in the combined new organization. Both Pfizer and Seagen have been very successful in Oncology. And we doubled the size of our Oncology pipeline when Seagen and Pfizer came together in December 2023.

Investor Insights: In your opinion, what differentiates the newly formed Pfizer Oncology organization from other organizations pursuing the same goals in the Oncology industry?

Chris Boshoff: Among large and mid-size biopharma companies, Pfizer’s Oncology organization, which includes the U.S. Oncology Commercial division and end-to-end global R&D is the only integrated Oncology organization, meaning, from discovery and development all the way to commercialization of our products.

We’re bringing together incredible expertise from both Pfizer and Seagen – in fact, our leadership team brings together over 300 years of industry or academic Oncology experience. We also have a robust pipeline that has expanded significantly since the acquisition of Seagen, with over 50 clinical programs that we can focus on as we strive for flawless execution from discovery to potential commercialization. We have the ability to function as a nimble biotech while optimizing Pfizer’s breadth and scale, including global manufacturing, access, and regulatory capabilities – positioning us to compete with the best in the industry in Oncology research and development.

 Investor Insights: You mentioned during the Oncology Innovation Day that Pfizer Oncology is “designed to improve interaction and collaboration across all functions from early discovery all the way through to commercialization.” Can you expand on which areas in particular were designed to drive efficiency and foster achieving the organizations near- and long-term goals?

Chris Boshoff: Our goal is that speed and execution will be further improved compared to what either organization could have achieved individually. Both Pfizer and Seagen individually had some of the best timelines in the industry with proven track records of delivering medicines rapidly with quality from first-in-patient studies to approvals. We are now able to incorporate both medical and commercial input into early development processes and discovery, providing additional external perspectives and driving a single point of accountability across the entire Oncology organization. We believe this will help us make more rapid decisions, improve capital allocation, and further enhance execution.

Read more about Pfizer’s Oncology Innovation Day

Investor Insights: A key standout about Pfizer Oncology is the people. As you’ve stated during the Oncology Innovation Day, “every organization is only as good as its people” and, importantly, Pfizer Oncology “colleagues are united around vision to accelerate breakthroughs for patients with cancer.” How does this unified mission fuel Pfizer Oncology to deliver the next generation of treatments for patients with cancer?

Chris Boshoff: Our vision drives everything we are doing and reflects our personal mission to improve the lives of people with cancer. In Oncology, our purpose is more personal than any other therapeutic area because almost everyone knows someone who has been touched by cancer.

At Pfizer, we’ve shown how we can move with urgency to deliver breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. And now, we’re making significant investments to tackle cancer – one of the biggest health challenges of our lifetime. So, we want to focus on speed, quality, execution and working with urgency across the organization to help deliver the potential next wave of innovative cancer medicines.

Investor Insights: Pfizer has been investing in driving meaningful progress in Oncology for over 20 years. With the needs of the Oncology community continuously evolving, how has Pfizer transformed its approach to cancer research to address these needs?

Chris Boshoff: We are making significant innovations in Oncology, with approximately 40% of all R&D investment at Pfizer directed towards this area. With the integration of Seagen, we are combining the nimbleness of a smaller science and technology focused biotech with the resources and scale of the Pfizer global enterprise.

The partnership and communication between medical affairs, discovery, early development and commercial are stronger than ever before. This allows for cross-functional input into early R&D and increases the cultural links between these different functions. We also are continually improving timelines for execution and links between patient advocacy groups and clinical development, incorporating the patient perspective to make clinical trials more patient-centric.

Investor Insights: Finally, what are you most excited about in cancer research today and what do you hope to accomplish as Pfizer’s new Chief Oncology Officer? 

Chris Boshoff: We are at an incredible point in cancer drug discovery and development. Tremendous progress has been made over the past two decades in understanding the genetic basis of cancer and identifying potential new targets and also combination approaches. One exciting area for me is early detection and interception, and its further potential in the future.

We have an opportunity to develop differentiated medicines that can make a difference in the lives of patients with cancer, and I am truly honored to lead the Global Oncology R&D organization. If we can achieve our vision and goals of doubling the number of patients treated with our innovative medicines by 2030 and delivering a number of new medicines that impact survival for people with cancer, we believe that will be one of our biggest achievements.

Forward-looking statements included herein and during Oncology Innovation Day are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. We encourage you to read our reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the sections captioned “Risk Factors” and “Forward Looking Information and Factors that May Affect Future Results,” for a description of such substantial risks and uncertainties. These reports are available at www.pfizer.com and the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. This communication and the Oncology Innovation Day materials are for the investment community and are not intended to influence prescribing decisions.