Pfizer, the New York-headquartered multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation, has appointed Francesca DeMartino as its new chief investor relations officer, effective October 2.
Reporting to chief corporate affairs officer and executive vice president Sally Susman, DeMartino will be working with Pfizer’s current IR lead, Chris Stevo, in a transition period that will conclude at the end of 2023. According to a statement announcing DeMartino’s appointment, Stevo will then leave the firm to pursue external opportunities.
DeMartino is now tasked with communicating progress of the firm’s overall strategy, innovation and growing initiatives to investors and the wider financial community and ‘will also advise Pfizer’s leaders on IR and capital market strategies’.
The appointment comes at ‘an exciting time’ for the pharmaceutical giant, as the company works on the launch of 19 new products and indications – where a drug/procedure has been granted regulatory approval and shows signs of being worth further investment – in the next 18 months.
Pfizer highlights DeMartino’s near 25 years of experience across IR, communications and corporate finance, noting that she most recently served as senior vice president of IR at Becton Dickinson (BD), one of the world’s largest medical technology firms.
Prior to BD, DeMartino was vice president of IR at Medtronic. During her tenure, the function received IR Magazine Awards for best overall investor relations and best investor relations in healthcare.
She has also previously held leadership roles in IR at biotechnology company Macrocure and OMRIX Biopharmaceuticals and in communications at Johnson & Johnson, among other posts.
