Pfizer boss sold $5.6m in stocks on day of vaccine announcement
Pfizer’s chief executive sold shares worth more than $5.6m (£4.2m) on the same day the US drugmaker made the breakthrough announcement that its coronavirus vaccine was 90 per cent effective.
Albert Bourla sold more than 130,000 shares on Monday as part of scheduled plans to offload some of his stake in Pfizer, according to a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The figure came just shy of Pfizer’s $41.99 share price peak on Monday, after successful trial data triggered a surge in the company’s stock.
Sally Susman, Pfizer’s executive vice-president and chief corporate affairs officer, also sold shares worth about $1.8m.
Bourla authorised his sale for a set price in August, while Susman arranged hers in November 2019, according to Bloomberg.
Bourla told CNN he had learned of the trial’s results last Sunday, the day before the announcement was made public.
Pfizer shares opened at $41.94 on Monday morning after the announcement, up 15 per cent from Friday’s close of $36.40, and finished 7.7 per cent higher at $39.20.
The surge sent ripples across stock markets around the world, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 indexes catapulting to new records.
Airline and hospitality investors celebrated a potential return to service after months of closure.
British Airways owner IAG surged over 30 per cent — the second largest move on London’s FTSE 100 — while shares in Easyjet jumped 30 per cent to 692.4p following the news.
Hotel groups Intercontinental and Whitbread performed similarly well, climbing nearly 14 per cent and 18 per cent respectively.
In a statement last night, a Pfizer spokesperson said: “The sale of these shares is part of Dr Bourla’s personal financial planning and a pre-established (10b5-1) plan, which allows, under SEC rules, major shareholders and insiders of exchange-listed corporations to trade a predetermined number of shares at a predetermined time.”
“Through our stock plan administrator, Dr Bourla authorized the sale of these shares on August 19, 2020, provided the stock was at least at a certain price.”