Moonshot: Inside Pfizer's Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible – A WSJ Bestseller on Crisis Leadership and Vaccine Innovation

Wall Street Journal Bestseller

2022 Genesis Prize Laureate

Axiom Award Bronze Medalist for Business Intelligence / Innovation

The exclusive, first-hand, behind-the-scenes story of how Pfizer raced to create the first Covid-19 vaccine, told by Pfizer’s Chairman and CEO Dr. Albert Bourla.

A riveting, fast-paced, inside look at one of the most incredible private sector achievements in history, Moonshot recounts the intensive nine months in 2020 when the scientists at Pfizer, under the visionary leadership of Dr. Albert Bourla, made “the impossible possible”—creating, testing, and manufacturing a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine that previously would have taken years to develop.

Dr. Bourla chronicles how the brilliant, dedicated minds at Pfizer, under the enormous strains of the global pandemic, overcame a series of crises that were compounded by social and political unrest, and reveals the doubts, decisions, obstacles, and failures they encountered. As Dr. Bourla makes clear, Pfizer’s success wasn’t due to luck; it was because of preparation driven by four simple values—Courage, Excellence, Equity, and Joy.

Moonshot is a story of leadership under the most unprecedented circumstances—how Dr. Bourla, a Greek immigrant, a child of Holocaust survivors, and a veterinarian, became the head of one of the world’s largest corporations and initiated a dramatic transformation of the organization just before a global health crisis would serve to test the organization, its scientists, and its leader, like never before. Moonshot describes best practices that can be used to address the multiple, unprecedented challenges our world faces, reveals Pfizer’s implementation of scientific breakthroughs at a record-breaking pace, and offers leadership lessons that can help anyone successfully manage their own seemingly unsolvable problems. As Dr. Bourla explains, “I am sharing the story of our moonshot—the challenges we faced, the lessons we learned, and the core values that allowed us to make it happen—in hopes that it might inspire and inform your own moonshot, whatever that may be.”

In this gripping business memoir, Dr. Bourla reveals the leadership frameworks and crisis-tested strategies behind one of history's greatest scientific achievements:

Leadership Under Pressure: Follow the journey of a Greek immigrant and child of Holocaust survivors who rose to lead one of the world’s largest corporations through a global pandemic. Scientific Innovation: Go behind the scenes of the intensive nine-month race to make the impossible possible—developing a novel vaccine at a speed previously thought unimaginable. Corporate Culture Framework: Discover the four core values—Courage, Excellence, Equity, and Joy—that drove preparation, fueled resilience, and enabled Pfizer’s team to succeed against all odds. Supply Chain Logistics at Scale: Learn how Pfizer solved unprecedented manufacturing and distribution challenges, from inventing new equipment on the fly to creating freezer farms the size of football fields. Navigating Politics and Public Trust: Understand the high-stakes decisions made to maintain scientific integrity amidst enormous social, political, and media pressure.