Dec. 6 Quick Takes: Pfizer CEO excoriates university presidents on antisemitism failure

In a remarkable, personal statement criticizing the presidents of Harvard University, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, Albert Bourla called their performance at Tuesday’s House committee hearing “one of the most despicable moments in the history of U.S. academia.” Bourla, CEO of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that he was ashamed to hear the testimony in which, he said, they were “offered numerous opportunities to condemn racist, antisemitic, hate rhetoric and refused to do so, hiding behind calls for ‘context,’” and indicated that such a defense dehumanizes victims. Bourla cited the memories of his own close family who perished in Auschwitz. He previously spoke out on LinkedIn on the “atrocities carried out against Israel,” on Oct. 7. He has not yet been joined by any other pharma leaders.

During a business review meeting Tuesday, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Chairman and CEO Joaquin Duato said the pharma regards the fast-growing field of GLP-1 products to treat obesity as “too crowded” for it to enter at this point. He did not rule out developing products with other mechanisms, but said there are “enough companies already, to my count” with GLP-1 products. At the event, the company outlined broad goals for growth by 2030, and named seven pipeline products with potential peak sales of $5 billion or more, as well as 12 with $1 billion-plus potential, across oncology, immunology and neuroscience...