Oct 8 (Reuters) - Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla plans

to meet key executives of activist hedge fund Starboard Value

next week, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing

people familiar with the matter.

Bourla and Shantanu Narayen, Pfizer's ( PFE ) lead independent

director and Adobe Systems CEO, will hold talks with

Starboard chief executive Jeff Smith and Patrick Sullivan, who

runs its healthcare investments, the report said.

Reuters reported on Sunday, citing sources, that Starboard

Value had taken a stake of about $1 billion in Pfizer and wanted

the drugmaker to make changes to turn its performance around.

Starboard approached Ian Read, a former Pfizer CEO, and

Frank D'Amelio, who served as CFO until 2021, who expressed

interest in helping the activist investor, sources told Reuters.

Pfizer declined to comment, while Starboard Value did

not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

CEO Bourla, who took the helm in 2019, has been trying

to turnaround Pfizer after its slump from pandemic-era highs,

hurt by shrinking sales of its COVID products.

Bourla spent some $70 billion since 2020 on

acquisitions, including the $43 billion buyout of Seagen last

year, while launching cost-saving initiatives.

The drugmaker has struggled to find a product that would

make up for the lost revenue from its COVID vaccine and pill.

It had a weaker-than-expected launch of its respiratory

syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine and disappointing clinical data

from an obesity pill it was developing.

Starboard's exact recommendations for Pfizer could not

immediately be ascertained, the FT report added.