Pfizer CEO sold 60 PERCENT of his stock for $5.6M the DAY of the vaccine announcement - but firm claims it was all part of a pre-announced trading plan agreed in AUGUST
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla sold 60 percent of his stock in the drug company for $5.6 million Monday - the same day the firm announced its COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough.
The company said on Wednesday the sale was part of a pre-announced trading plan, adopted by Bourla on August 19. Bourla sold 132,508 shares at $41.94 per share, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late Tuesday.
Pfizer on Monday said its experimental COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90 per cent effective based on initial trial results, sending its shares higher along with the broader markets.
'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,' Pfizer said.
'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.'
The company's executive vice president and chief corporate affairs officer, Sally Susman, also sold more than 43,000 shares worth $1.8 million.
Shares in Pfizer hit $41.99 Monday, its highest point in a year. Bourla sold off just shy of that peak.
Pfizer on Monday said its experimental COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90 per cent effective based on initial trial results, sending its shares higher
Pfizer Inc Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla, picturred, has sold stake worth $5.56 million, according to a regulatory filing that showed the sale was made on Monday, the same day the drugmaker reported positive data on its experimental COVID-19 vaccine
In May two executives at drug firm Moderna quietly sold nearly $30 million of stock when they unveiled a coronavirus vaccine and value surged, before the share price quickly fell again amid skepticism from the medical community.
Moderna's chief financial officer Lorence Kim and chief medical officer Tal Zaks dumped the stocks when the share price skyrocketed following the company's announcement of what it described as 'positive' results from its vaccine trial.
The two executives pocketed almost $25 million in profits in a day's work before experts cast doubt on the vaccine's success and sent shares tumbling.
In July Kodak CEO Jim Continenza added $79 million to his net worth when his options in the imaging company turned from worthless to lucrative thanks to a U.S. government loan for a pharmaceutical ingredients supply deal. An independent review cleared its chief executive of insider trading in September.
The timing of Pfizer's vaccine announcement has already been called into question by Donald Trump Jr., who tweeted sarcastically: 'The timing of this is pretty amazing. Nothing nefarious about the timing of this at all right?'
In September, Bourla promised that they would know whether or not the vaccine was effective by the end of October, a deadline that fit with Trump's promise to find a vaccine that worked before the November 3 election.
PFIZER VACCINE TIMELINE
SEPTEMBER 13: Pfizer CEO Anthony Bourla says they will know if the vaccine is effective by the end of October
OCTOBER 16: In an open letter, Bourla promises again to know if the vaccine is effective by the end of October
He said the company wouldn't know if all three components - efficacy, safety and manufacturing - were up to par until the third week of November
OCTOBER 30-NOVEMBER 8: No update on efficacy of the vaccine
NOVEMBER 3: Presidential election
NOVEMBER 7: The election is called for Joe Biden
NOVEMBER 9: Pfizer announces results of efficacy study, says they expanded perimeters of it after consulting the FDA but doesn't say when or why
But that deadline came and went with no news. America went to the polls on November 3. Many told pollsters that the handling of the crisis was one of the most important issues on their minds.
Then suddenly on Monday, after the entire country waited four days for an election result, Pfizer announced their breakthrough, touting it as a 'great day for humanity' and science.
The news sent the S&P 500 and the Dow surging on Monday.
Stocks of companies that most need the economy and the world to return to normal for their profits to heal led the way.
An 11.9% surge for Chevron and 12% jump for The Walt Disney Co. amid hopes that people will start driving and flying to theme parks again helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average leap 1,255 points in afternoon trading.
Shares in Uber also surged to 9% and were on track to close above their $45 IPO price for the first time in 18 months.
Cruise operators and owners of office buildings and shopping centers were among the market's biggest winners on expectations people will feel comfortable again riding elevators to a desk or shopping in enclosed stores.
Carnival surged 34.1%, though it's still down by more than half for 2020 so far. It led a resurgence for what are called 'value stocks,' ones whose prices look cheap and had gotten left behind by the rest of the market through the pandemic.
'People are buying those because they see a light at the end of the tunnel,' said Todd Morgan, chairman at Bel Air Investment Advisors.
Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE have said no serious safety concerns were found so far and expect to seek U.S. emergency use authorization this month, raising the chance of a regulatory decision as soon as December
Kodak CEO's fortune swells $79 million as stocks rally on U.S. government loan
Kodak CEO Jim Continenza added $79 million to his net worth in July when his options in the imaging company turned from worthless to lucrative thanks to a U.S. government loan for a pharmaceutical ingredients supply deal that super-charged the value of his shares.
Kodak's stock increased 1,167% in value in two days, after the administration of President Donald Trump agreed to provide a $765 million loan for the company to produce pharmaceutical ingredients to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Continenza's stock options had no value on Monday, but were worth $59 million on Wednesday following the rally in the stock.
In September an independent review cleared Continenza of insider trading in relation to a $765 million U.S. government loan to produce pharmaceutical ingredients.
The review by Washington-based law firm Akin Gump found securities transactions made by Continenza around the time of the loan did not violate internal policies, but found certain 'gaps' in Kodak's insider trading processes.
Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE have said no serious safety concerns were found so far and expect to seek U.S. emergency use authorization this month, raising the chance of a regulatory decision as soon as December.
The US government plans to start vaccinating Americans next month if Pfizer has its COVID-19 vaccine approved by Food and Drug Administration health regulators as quickly as expected.
Health and human services secretary Alex Azar says the US could receive 20 million doses per month starting at the end of this month if Pfizer is quick to submit its promising vaccine trial data to secure regulatory approval.
Dr Anthony Fauci, based on Pfizer's initial findings, said he expects the doses of the vaccine to be available for certain high priority groups in December and that the general population could get the vaccine by April.
Along with Pfizer's own share price, airline stocks skyrocketed on Monday after the announcement as people finally saw a 'light at the end of the tunnel'.
Pfizer's announcement doesn't mean for certain that a vaccine is imminent. Efficacy is just one of three components to consider when submitting the vaccine for FDA approval. The other two are safety and whether or not it can be mass-produced to the right standards.
This interim analysis related to efficacy looked at 94 infections recorded so far in a study that has enrolled nearly 44,000 people in the US and five other countries.
Pfizer doesn't plan to stop its study until it records 164 infections among all the volunteers - a number that the FDA has agreed is enough to tell how well the vaccine is working.
The FDA has also said companies must track half their participants for side effects for at least two months, which Pfizer says it expects to reach later this month.
Dr Bruce Aylward, the World Health Organization's senior adviser, said that the vaccine could 'fundamentally change the direction of this crisis' by March, when the UN agency hopes to start vaccinating high-risk groups.
Dean of Brown Public Health, Ashish K. Jha, told NBC's Today that he was 'pleasantly surprised' given he had been expecting it to be around 70 percent.
'This is good news. I am pleasantly surprised. We were all hoping to hear about a vaccine sometime this month or next. I was expecting it would be 70% effective, if we were lucky. This is clearly a positive step forward,' he said.
Dr Richard Besser, the former head of the CDC, told ABC's GMA said the while Pfizer's 'exciting' announcement won't help the US through this winter, it could mean a big change by next summer.
'I always like to take some caution but if this holds up, this is looking after two weeks and 28 days - the bar for approval is 50 percent. If a vaccine is truly 90 percent effective, it could have a dramatic effect on this pandemic in the long run,' he said.
'It's not going to help us this winter. It depends on production and distribution - you're talking next summer, next fall if people want to receive it.'
The shots made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech are among 10 possible vaccine candidates in late-stage testing around the world - four of them so far in huge studies in the US.
Another US company, Moderna Inc., also has said it hopes to be able to file an application with the Food and Drug Administration later this month.
PFIZER'S VACCINE ANNOUNCEMENT: WHEN WILL A VACCINE BE AVAILABLE IN US?
Pfizer's announcement today is based on an interim analysis in the Phase 3 clinical trial that has been underway since July.
The drugmaker said the results of the interim analysis were announced after a discussion with the FDA. The company said that, based on those discussions, they opted to conduct the interim analysis at a minimum of 62 cases instead of an initial 32-case figure.
The 90 percent rate is based on 94 cases.
Pfizer doesn't plan to stop its study until it records 164 cases among all the volunteers - a number that the FDA has agreed is enough to tell how well the vaccine is working.
The FDA has also said companies must track half their participants for side effects for at least two months, which Pfizer says it expects to reach later this month.
Pfizer has cautioned that the initial protection rate might change by the time the study ends.
The 90% efficacy rate is above the 50% effectiveness required by the FDA for a vaccine.
Pfizer expects to produce up to 1.3 billion doses of the vaccine in 2021.
To save time, the company began manufacturing the vaccine before they knew whether it would be effective.
They now expect to produce up to 50 million doses, or enough to protect 25 million people, by the end of this year.