Pfizer has tapped Wall Street analyst Andrew Baum to be its new chief strategy and innovation officer, where he’ll head up management of the company’s portfolio and work on partnerships.
Baum has been an investment analyst for more than two decades, most recently at Citi, where he led the bank’s healthcare research. Previously, he spent 14 years at Morgan Stanley and has also been a working physician.
In a press release, Pfizer said Baum will “be responsible for our portfolio analysis and prioritization functions, business development activities, strengthening our partnerships with the biotech ecosystem, and the commercial evaluation of our research pipeline.”
Pfizer is turning to Wall Street at a time when the company could use a boost in its share performance, after losing more than half its value since its late 2021 pandemic-era peak. The move is not without precedent — Ronny Gal, a well-known analyst with Sanford Bernstein, joined Novartis in 2022 and serves as the drugmaker’s chief strategy and growth officer.
Baum will fill the slot that Aamir Malik left open when CEO Albert Bourla promoted him to chief US commercial officer. He will start in June.