(Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc. paid Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla $21 million in total compensation last year, as the pharmaceutical giant became the first to gain U.S. authorization for a coronavirus vaccine.

The overall pay package, which included salary, bonus, stock and other incentive pay, represented a 17% increase from Bourla’s compensation in 2019, when he was paid a total of $17.9 million, according to a securities filing on Friday.

Bourla has become the highly visible face of a company at the center of global efforts to halt the Covid-19 pandemic. The vaccine that Pfizer developed with German partner BioNTech SE was found to be 95% effective against the virus in a clinical trial, and it has become a crucial part of immunization efforts in the U.S.

At the same time, Bourla has been presiding over a broader effort to shift Pfizer’s emphasis to innovative treatments for cancer and other diseases. The company last year combined its Upjohn business, which included older blockbusters like erectile dysfunction medication Viagra and cholesterol fighter Lipitor, with generic-drug maker Mylan NV to form a new company called Viatris Inc.

Pfizer shares, which declined 0.9% over the course of 2020, were up 0.2% to $34.78 at 10:22 a.m. in New York.

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