5 Best AI Drug Discovery Stocks Hedge Funds Are Loading Up On

2. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 83

On May 20, 2026, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) CEO Albert Bourla said on “In Good Company” that pandemic-era urgency allowed an eight-month COVID vaccine timeline. He said that regulators and governments “reverted to more conservative” approaches afterward. There was a sharp reversal, with COVID revenue falling from $56 billion in 2022 to about $6 billion more recently. Bourla described the swing as damaging to internal confidence while crediting a “resilience culture” for recovery.

Bourla said the company invested over $80 billion in acquisitions, including a roughly $40+ billion Seagen deal. He called its antibody drug conjugates a precision cancer-targeting platform with 4 marketed drugs and 13 in development.

Turning to competition, he warned China could surpass the US in early-stage drug discovery within one to two years with faster speed and lower costs.

On strategy, Bourla said Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) rearranged R&D to improve focus while stressing culture over strategy, stating it “lifts the performance of an entire organization.”

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) is a research-based global biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, sells, and distributes biopharmaceutical products worldwide.