Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla speaks during the China Development Forum in Beijing on March 25, 2023.
Lam Dao Truong | Getty Images News | beautiful pictures
BEIJING — US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer signed an agreement with China to work together to improve the country’s health insurance coverage, according to the company.
“We are very much in line with China’s ‘Healthy 2030’ policy [initiative] and we’re trying to contribute as much as we can,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC’s Eunice Yoon on Saturday.
He declined to share more details, including the dollar amount.
China in 2016 announced a “Healthy China 2030” plan to improve the country’s public health services, health sector, and food and drug safety. The Covid-19 pandemic has also highlighted shortages in China. The public health system is still evolving.
Pfizer’s memorandum of understanding with the China Center for Health Research is set up to support public health research and improve the health of rural residents, according to details published by Chinese state media.
“Every individual and citizen from China will have equal access to our innovative product,” said Pfizer China President Jean-Christophe Pointeau in the report.
He said the company has around 600 employees dedicated to rural areas “to educate healthcare professionals about our groundbreaking innovation in Oncology, Anti-Infection and Inflammation & Immunology.” .”
The weekend comments did not discuss the drug Paxlovid to treat Covid.
In January, Bourla said Pfizer had signed an agreement with a local partner to manufacture Paxlovid in China, where production can begin as soon as three or four months.
