Former Pfizer executives not involved in Starboard’s campaign against drugmaker

(Reuters) – Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)’s former CEO and Chair Ian Read and ex-CFO Frank D’Amelio said in a statement that they will not be involved with activist investor Starboard Value, which wants the U.S. drug giant to make changes to turn its performance around.

“We are fully supportive of Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla, senior management and the board, and we are confident that over time they will deliver shareholder value,” the executives said in a statement on Wednesday, which was issued by Guggenheim Partners, an advisor to Pfizer.

Pfizer and Starboard did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Read, who served as CEO until Albert Bourla took over the position in 2019, and D’Amelio, who served as CFO until 2021, had both expressed interest in helping Starboard Value after it acquired a stake of about $1 billion in Pfizer, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday.