Pfizer Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation headquartered in New York City. It is one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies.
Pfizer ranked No. 57 on the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
The company develops and produces medicines and vaccines for a wide range of medical disciplines, including immunology, oncology, cardiology, endocrinology, and neurology.
Its products include the blockbuster drug Lipitor (atorvastatin), used to lower LDL blood cholesterol, Lyrica (pregabalin) for neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia, Diflucan (fluconazole), an oral antifungal medication, Zithromax (azithromycin), an antibiotic, Viagra (sildenafil) for erectile dysfunction and Celebrex (also Celebra, celecoxib), an anti-inflammatory drug.
In 1849, Pfizer was founded in New York City by German-American Charles Pfizer and his cousin Charles F. Erhart from Ludwigsburg, Germany.
They launched the chemicals business, Charles Pfizer and Company, and Bartlett Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where they produced an antiparasitic called santonin.
This was an immediate success, although it was the production of citric acid that led to Pfizer’s growth in the 1880s.
History :
Pfizer continued to buy property to expand its lab and factory and Pfizer’s original administrative headquarters was at 81 Maiden Lane in Manhattan.
During World War I caused a shortage of calcium citrate, which Pfizer imported from Italy for the manufacture of citric acid, and the company began a search for an alternative supply. Pfizer chemists learned of a fungus that ferments sugar to citric acid, and they were able to commercialize production of citric acid from this source in 1919. The company developed expertise in fermentation technology as a result. These skills were applied to the mass production of the antibiotic penicillin during World War II in response to the need to treat injured soldiers; most of the penicillin that were supplied to the troops was made by Pfizer.
Pfizer acquired Warner–Lambert in 2000 for $111.8 billion at the time, created the second largest pharmaceutical company in the world.
Acquisition :
In 2002, Pfizer merged with Pharmacia and the merger was again driven in part by the desire to acquire full rights to a product, this time Celebrex (celecoxib), the COX-2 selective inhibitor previously jointly marketed by Searle (acquired by Pharmacia) and Pfizer.
On January 26, 2009, after more than a year of talks between the two companies, Pfizer agreed to buy pharmaceuticals rival Wyeth for a combined US$68 billion in cash, shares and loans, including some US$22.5 billion lent by five major Wall Street banks and the deal cemented Pfizer’s position as the largest pharmaceutical company in the world
In October 2010, Pfizer agreed to buy King Pharmaceuticals for $3.6 billion in cash or $14.25 per share: an approximately 40% premium over King’s closing share price October 11, 2010.
Plans to spin out Zoetis, the Agriculture Division of Pfizer and later Pfizer Animal Health, were announced in 2012
In February 2015, Pfizer and Hospira agreed that Pfizer would acquire Hospira for $15.2 billion, a deal in which Hospira shareholders would receive $90 in cash for each share they owned. Hospirais the largest producer of generic injectable pharmaceuticals in the world.
In 2018 Pfizer announced it would reorganise its business into three separate units; a higher-margin innovative medicines division, a lower-margin, off-patent drug division, and a consumer healthcare division, with a view to focussing on higher margin therapies.
In May 2019 the company announced it would acquire Therachon for $810 million, expanding its rare disease portfolio through Theracons recombinant human fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 compound, aimed at treating conditions such as achondroplasia.
n May 2020, Pfizer began testing four different coronavirus vaccine variations to help end the COVID-19 pandemic and plans to expand human trials to thousands of test patients by September 2020.
In late July 2019, the company announced that it would spin off and merge its off-patent medicine division, Upjohn, with Mylan, forming a brand new pharmaceutical business with sales of around $20 billion.
The new combined business will have a portfolio of drugs and brands including the Epi-Pen, Viagra, Lipitor and Celebrex.
Pfizer is organised into nine principal operating divisions: Primary Care, Specialty Care, Oncology, Emerging Markets, Established Products, Consumer Healthcare, Nutrition, Animal Health, and Capsugel.
Operation :
Pfizer is organised into nine principal operating divisions: Primary Care, Specialty Care, Oncology, Emerging Markets, Established Products, Consumer Healthcare, Nutrition, Animal Health, and Capsugel.
Controversies :
Pfizer is party to a number of lawsuits stemming from its pharmaceutical products as well as the practices of various companies it has merged with or acquired.
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