Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla has ‘predicted’ that life will return to ‘normal’ around springtime.
In an interview published by the French news outlet Le Figaro, Bourla also said that even though he expects covid to continue circulating for many years, he doen’t think there will be a need for major restrictions during future waves.
The Epoch Times reports: The Pfizer chief credited developments in COVID-19 testing, vaccines, and therapeutics for his optimistic outlook, telling BFM TV in a separate interview that he expects the current Omicron-driven wave to be the “last with so many restrictions.”
At the same time, Bourla predicted that COVID-19 would continue to circulate for many years to come.
“This is a virus that has spread all over the world so it is very difficult to get rid of,” Bourla told BFM TV.
Bourla also said Pfizer was planning to invest over half a billion dollars in France over the next five years to boost global production of its COVID-19 pill Paxlovid, which obtained emergency approval in the United States in December.
The investment will pertain to the production of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for Paxlovid at a plant run by French pharmaceutical group Novasep, which announced on Jan. 17 it had signed a letter of intent with Pfizer to bolster the drugmaker’s global supply chain of the pill.
“We are honored by this renewed proof of confidence, Pfizer being a long-time customer of Novasep and we are of course proud to contribute to the manufacturing of this medicine which has shown in clinical trials to have a positive impact on hospitalization among at-risk COVID-19 patients,” Novasep CEO Dr. Michel Spagnol said in a statement.
