Pfizer’s chief executive Albert Bourla decamped with his top management team to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for an off-site meeting, in the latest attempt by corporate America to ingratiate itself with the US president-elect.
Bourla arrived with several members of his executive leadership in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday evening, according to flight records and two people familiar with the matter.
Pfizer’s executive team is using Mar-a-Lago for a planning meeting over several days, the people said. While there is no scheduled meeting between Bourla and Trump, the pair are likely to interact and the choice of venue is another example of outreach from the pharmaceutical industry to Trump, a person familiar with the meeting said.
Pharma executives have been bracing for the appointment of vaccine sceptic and former independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr and his allies to run the US health department and its powerful agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Kennedy and his advisers have sowed doubt on the widescale rollout of vaccines and a new class of blockbuster weight-loss drugs. He is due to meet around a dozen senators from across the political spectrum, including Democrat Elizabeth Warren and independent Bernie Sanders, in coming days.
After being contacted by the Financial Times, Pfizer confirmed the meeting was being hosted at Mar-a-Lago. Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bourla, who worked closely with the Trump administration on the development of a Covid-19 vaccine, has been leading the charge to cosy up to the president-elect.
Bourla met Trump at Mar-a-Lago in the run-up to the November election, and then was instrumental in organising a December dinner with Trump, Kennedy, Eli Lilly chief executive David Ricks and Stephen Ubl, the head of PhRMA, the industry lobbying group, the people said.
The Pfizer chief is among a growing list of corporate executives trying to foster a direct relationship with Trump ahead of his inauguration on January 20. Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Apple chief executive Tim Cook have all dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in recent weeks.
Pfizer is also one of several companies, including Meta and Amazon, which have pledged money to Trump’s inauguration committee, a person said.
Despite the pharma industry’s anxiety about Kennedy’s nomination, some executives hope they can help shape a mutually beneficial policy agenda, according to Washington lobbyists.
“Everyone knows where Donald Trump’s going to go on immigration and energy but there’s a lot of nuance that could have multibillion-dollar impacts on Big Tech and pharmaceuticals,” said Matt Mowers, a former Trump official who runs lobbying firm Valcour. “Those nuances are the areas in which these companies have to start working with the incoming administration.”
“If I were a CEO of a pharma company, I’d be going down to Mar-a-Lago as well,” said John LaMattina, former head of research and development at Pfizer. “Trump loves to have people come and pay their respects to him, and he listens when they come. So what better access to have than to go directly to the president-elect and plead your case?”
Among issues on which industry executives think they can collaborate with the new administration are reforms to pharmacy benefit managers, the companies that negotiate drug prices on behalf of employers, insurers and state-backed health insurance programmes, said LaMattina. These companies have come under fire for making large profits. Executives are also hoping to work with Kennedy on his efforts to shake up the food industry as part of his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.
Pfizer, one the world’s biggest vaccine makers, was among several pharma stocks that traded down after Kennedy was announced as Trump’s nomination to run the US health department. In December, Kennedy met more than 20 Republican senators to discuss his plans for the role ahead of his confirmation hearing.
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