(), is a global
Pharmaceutical Company based in
New York City . It produces the number-one selling drug Lipitor (
Atorvastatin , used to lower blood cholesterol); the oral antifungal medication Diflucan (
Fluconazole ), the long-acting antibiotic Zithromax (
Azithromycin ), the well-known erectile dysfunction drug Viagra (
Sildenafil citrate), and the pain reliever Celebrex (
Celecoxib )
Pfizer's
Shares were made a component of the
Dow Jones Industrial Average on
April 8 ,
2004 .
Pfizer is named after
German-American cousins
Charles Pfizer and
Charles Erhart who launched their chemicals business
Charles Pfizer And Company from a building in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn in 1849. Here, they produced an antiparasitic called
Santonin . This was an immediate success, although it was the production of
Citric Acid that really kick-started Pfizer's growth in the 1880s.
By 1910, sales totalled nearly $3 million, and Pfizer became established as an expert in
Fermentation technology. These skills were applied to the mass production of
Penicillin during the
World War II , in response to an appeal from the US government. The antibiotic was urgently needed to treat injured Allied soldiers, and it soon became known as "the miracle drug". In fact, most of the penicillin that went ashore with the troops on
D-Day was made by Pfizer.
By the 1950s, Pfizer was established in Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom.
During the 1980s and 1990s Pfizer underwent a period of growth sustained by the discovery and marketing of multiple successful drugs (
Zoloft ,
Zithromax ,
Aricept ,
Diflucan ,
Viagra ).
In
2000 , Pfizer merged with and acquired full rights to Lipitor (
Atorvastatin ), the
Blockbuster Statin previously jointly marketed by Warner-Lambert and Pfizer. Warner-Lambert was based in
Morris Plains, New Jersey where their former headquarters has now become a major base of operations for Pfizer. The Morris Plains facility is mostly used for administrative purposes. Most of Pfizer's research is done in
Groton, Connecticut ;
Sandwich, England ; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Nagoya, Japan; St. Louis, Missouri and LaJolla, California.
In
2002 , Pfizer merged with competitor
Pharmacia to become the largest pharmaceutical company in the world. The merger was again driven in part by the desire to acquire full rights to a
Blockbuster product, this time Celebrex (
Celecoxib ), the
COX-2 Selective Inhibitor previously jointly marketed by Searle (acquired by Pharmacia) and Pfizer.
was founded in 1991 in . Sugen's laboratories were closed as part of the reorganization following Pfizer's purchase of Pharmacia. From the acquisition, the Sugen compounds SU11248 and SU11657 entered Pfizer's pipeline.. SU11248 was approved by the FDA for treatment of GIST and RCC cancers, in January of 2006, and is now marketed as Sutent (
Sunitinib ).
Current members of the ,
M. Anthony Burns ,
Robert Burt ,
Don Cornwell ,
William H. Gray ,
Constance Horner ,
William Howell ,
Stanley Ikenberry ,
George Lorch ,
Henry McKinnell ,
Dana Mead ,
Ruth J. Simmons , and
William Steere .
- Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer ( CEO ): Henry McKinnell
- Executive Vice President (
- Senior Vice President (
- Director, Global Chemistry IT, Dr. Jeffrey Gaw.
Pfizer manufactures both pharmaceutical medications and over-the-counter consumer products. Pfizer has an annual product marketing budget of $3 billion, which was the fourth-largest in the US as of 2003. Pfizer employs 38,000 sales representatives worldwide
{Link without Title} .
The following is a list of key prescription pharmaceutical products
as found on the Pfizer website , retrieved 2005-03-27. The names shown are all registered trademarks of Pfizer Inc.
The following is a partial list of Over-the-Counter brands manufactured by Pfizer:
The following is a partial list of Animal Health brands manufactured by Pfizer:
Pfizer is party to a number of suits stemming from companies it has acquired or merged with, including
Asbestos litigation as well as litigation stemming from its
Medicinal products.
Pfizer acquired Quigley in 1968, and the division sold
Asbestos -containing insulation products until the early 1970s. Asbestos victims and Pfizer have been negotiating a settlement deal which calls for Pfizer to pay $430 million to 80 percent of existing plaintiffs. It will also place an additional $535 million into an asbestos settlement trust that will compensate future plaintiffs as well as the remaining 20 percent of current plaintiffs with claims against Pfizer and Quigley. The compenstion deal is worth $965 million all up.
Of that $535 million, $405 million is in a 40-year note from Pfizer, while $100 million will come from insurance policies.
Pfizer purchased Shiley in 1979 at the onset of its Convexo-Concave valve ordeal, involving the
Bjork-Shiley Heart Valve . Approximately 500 people died when defective valves failed and, in
1994 , the
United States ruled against Pfizer for ~$200 million.
Pfizer proposed a ban on all
Lawsuit s against
Manufacturers of
Body Implant parts which was proposed in the
United States Congress as part of
Tort Reform legislation.
In March 2006 Pfizer sued the Philippines government as well as two government health officials personally, to prevent Philippines drug regulators from allowing the importation of less expensive versions of a Pfizer heart disease drug.
Pfizer's research and development organization is headquartered in New London, CT. The company has R&D labs in the following locations:
Groton, Connecticut ,
Sandwich, England ,
Nagoya, Japan ,
Amboise, France ,
La Jolla, California ,
Cambridge, Massachusetts ,
Ann Arbor, Michigan ,
St. Louis, Missouri .
In 2004, Pfizer invested $7.68 billion in research and development, the largest investment in R&D by private biomedical research organization.
Pfizer received a 100% rating on the
Corporate Equality Index released by the
Human Rights Campaign starting in
2004 , the third year of the report.
