Pfizer’s CEO sold US $ 5.6mn in stock on same day of vaccine news

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla sold US $ 5.6 million worth of stock on Monday — the same day it said its and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine showed 90 percent effectiveness in preliminary results, which saw the company’s stock soaring almost 8 percent.

According to foreign media reports, Bourla sold 132,508 shares in the company, at an average price of US $ 41.49 a share. The media reports further said his stock sale was carried out through a routine Rule 10b5-1, a predetermined trading plan that allows company staff members to sell their stock in line with insider-trading laws. 

Bourla’s sale was part of a plan adopted on August 19, a filing registered with New York Stock Exchange showed. Bourla continues to own 81,812 Pfizer shares.