Keynote

We are excited to announce our Keynote speaker for the Inaugural Cornell Intercampus Vaccine Symposium: Ms. Angela Hwang!

Angela Hwang is the Chief Commercial Officer and President of the Global Biopharmaceuticals Business at Pfizer and a member of its Executive Leadership Team. She and her organization, comprised of over 26,000 colleagues, are responsible for delivering all 600 of Pfizer’s medicines and vaccines to patients in 185 countries. In 2022, more than 1.3 billion people received a Pfizer therapy that protected and improved their health. Under Angela’s leadership, Pfizer Biopharma generated $100 billion in 2022 revenues.

Pfizer’s Biopharma business addresses major global health priorities, including cancer, COVID-19, infectious diseases, inflammation & immunology, rare diseases, cardiovascular/metabolic disorders, and preventative care with vaccines. But Angela’s work goes beyond making medicines available. She is equally focused on creating and expanding collaborations with health insurers, governments, policymakers, and global health stakeholders around the world to come up with new and better ways to meet health challenges and make medicines accessible and affordable for all.

In 2020, Angela and Pfizer’s Biopharma team launched the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine and, one year later, the first oral antiviral treatment. Though vaccines often take many years to develop and distribute, Angela and her team — inspired by a relentless focus on helping patients — made the impossible possible.

Angela’s commitment to health equity has deep roots. Her experience growing up as an Asian girl in South Africa during the apartheid era shaped her worldview. It helps explain why, after 27 years at Pfizer, she continues to find purpose and common cause with her Pfizer colleagues to bring more breakthroughs to patients, no matter who they are or where they live. Under Angela’s leadership, Pfizer launched An Accord for a Healthier World, a first-of-its-kind initiative to enable sustained, equitable access to all of Pfizer’s medicines and vaccines in 45 lower-income countries. The Accord has the potential to improve the health of 1.2 billion people and transform the healthcare ecosystem in those countries.

Beyond her work at Pfizer, Angela serves on the Board of Directors of UPS, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, the U.S. China Business Council, Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management Advisory Council, and the Pfizer Foundation, which uses the power of philanthropy to improve global health.

Angela is consistently ranked among the world’s top leaders in healthcare and business by publications including Crain’s, Business Insider, Forbes, and Fortune, which placed her in the top 20 Most Powerful Women in Business three years in a row. Angela is also an honoree of A100, which recognizes the most impactful Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) leaders. In 2021, she received the President’s Award from the National Diversity Council for championing diversity, equity, and inclusion. Cornell University named Angela a Robert S. Hatfield Economic Fellow in 2022. In 2023, she was recognized as a Ascend A-list Honoree for her professional achievements as an Asian American leader.

Angela received her Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Biochemistry from the University of Cape Town and her MBA from Cornell. Angela and her husband are proud parents of a teenage daughter and son. Angela is a fierce advocate for women’s leadership and sustainable global health equity.

You can follow Angela on LinkedIn and on Instagram @angelahwangpfizer.