Back to School 2020

Pfizer’s MacKenzie: Other diseases deserve the same acceleration as COVID-19: a BioCentury audio interview

Chief development officer calls for sustained pace of regulatory interactions

Pfizer Chief Development Officer Rod MacKenzie calls for sustained pace of regulatory interactions in aftermath of COVID-19.

Pfizer’s Rod MacKenzie says the collaborations and accelerated timelines taking place during COVID-19 are causing introspection in pharmas for how they operate, and for how they can push for regulators to continue the pace of interactions they’re setting during the pandemic into its aftermath.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) administered the first dose of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine it’s co-developing with BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) two hours after FDA approved the trial, MacKenzie, EVP and chief development officer at the pharma, told BioCentury.

In an audio interview that was part of a series of conversations with industry leaders for BioCentury’s Back to School 2020 package,  MacKenzie described steps companies and regulators have taken to speed the development of COVID-19 medicines.

These efficiencies must be applied in the future to all drug development for serious unmet needs, he said. The COVID-19 experience “has taught us what we're all capable of when the