By
Tolu Ajiboye
December 13th, 2023
On the same day when Pfizer announced the results of the vaccine trial, the company’s CEO Albert Bourla sold 132,508 shares (or 62% of his stock) at the price of $41.99.
On Monday, one of the leading COVID-19 vaccine race players Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) announced the first results of the interim efficacy analysis the company conducted on November 8, 2020. The vaccine that Pfizer has been working on in collaboration with German pharma giant BioNTech SE (NASDAQ: BNTX) has proved to be more than 90% effective. After that, it has become known that Pfizer CEO decided to sell an impressive part of his PFE shares.
Pfizer CEO Sold $5.6 Million of PFE Shares
On the same day when Pfizer announced the results of the vaccine trial, the company’s CEO Albert Bourla sold 132,508 shares (or 62% of his stock) at the price of $41.99. This is the 52-week-high for Pfizer’s stock, which means Bourla sold his shares at almost their highest value in the past year.
The sale is a part of the Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. It allows company staff to sell their stocks in line with insider trading laws. It was adopted on August 19.
After the sale, Albert Bourla still owns 81,812 Pfizer shares.
Phase 3 Clinical Trial Results
The Phase 3 clinical trial of Pfizer and BioNTech’s BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine began on July 27. The total number of participants made up 43,538 people to date. Within the study, they received either a second dose of the vaccine or a placebo. By November 8, the vaccine had already shown a 90%-effectiveness. The study has gauged that 94 trial participants were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19.
Pfizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla commented:
“Today is a great day for science and humanity. The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent COVID-19.”
He further said:
“We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen. With today’s news, we are a significant step closer to providing people around the world with a much-needed breakthrough to help bring an end to this global health crisis. We look forward to sharing additional efficacy and safety data generated from thousands of participants in the coming weeks.”
The trial is further continuing. It will take place until 164 COVID-19 cases amongst participants are confirmed.
Following Pfizer’s announcement, Pfizer shares soared. Soon after the news, Pfizer stock rose as much as 15% and was trading about 8.8% higher.
Yesterday, Pfizer stock ended 1.33% down. But in the early trade today, it is again up. As of the press moment, Pfizer shares are trading 0.80% up, at $38.99. Pfizer market cap is $217.89 billion.