STAT+: Mikael Dolsten, Pfizer CSO who could take on Covid but not Wall Street, to step down

Five years ago — before the pandemic — Pfizer’s head of research and development, Mikael Dolsten, told STAT he kept a chess set in his office that he got as a gift from a former CEO of the company. It was a memento delivered to Dolsten after he cautioned his boss that research and development was a long process, like a chess match, not something that would happen quickly.

“I told him that, look, it’s not just one investment, it is like playing chess,’’ Dolsten said. “You need to have a picture of the entire opening game, win the middle game, and be really good in the end game.”

On Tuesday, Dolsten reached the end game.

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