![STAT's Damian Garde speaks with Mikael Dolsten and Mathai Mammen, in New York on March 21, 2024](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.statnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/03-21-2024-STATeast-StudioBrooke-3574-645x645.jpg)
Five years ago — before the pandemic — Pfizer’s head of research and development, Mikael Dolsten, told STAT he kept a chess set in his office that he got as a gift from a former CEO of the company. It was a memento delivered to Dolsten after he cautioned his boss that research and development was a long process, like a chess match, not something that would happen quickly.
“I told him that, look, it’s not just one investment, it is like playing chess,’’ Dolsten said. “You need to have a picture of the entire opening game, win the middle game, and be really good in the endgame.”
On Tuesday, Dolsten reached the endgame.
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