Founded in 1849 by cousins Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart, Pfizer, Inc. is one of America’s oldest and largest multinational pharmaceutical corporations. Headquartered in New York City, with its main research headquarters located in Groton, Connecticut, Pfizer, Inc. produces a number of prescription drugs and medications including Liptor, used to lower cholesterol; Lyrica, for neuropathic pain; Diflucan, an oral antifungal medication; Zithromax, an antibiotic; Viagra, for erectile disfunction; and Celebrex/Celebra, an anti-inflammatory drug. With a market cap of $183.4 billion and an annual revenue of over $51 billion, Pfizer, Inc. is the second largest pharmaceutical company in the world and has made a number of acquisitions, including Warner-Lambert in 2003 and Wyeth in 2009. Read on to find out five things you might have never known about America’s pharmaceutical giant.
5. The Five Areas of Pfizer, Inc.
Today, Pfizer operates in over 180 countries and employs more than 110,000 people throughout the world. Pfizer, Inc. is organized into five specialized divisions: Primary Car, Specialty Care and Oncology, Established Products and Emerging Markets, Animal Health (previously known as the Agricultural division), and Consumer Health Care and Nutrition.
4. How the Company Began
Pfizer, Inc. got its start in 1849 when Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart launched their chemicals business, Charles Pfizer and Company. One of the company’s first products was a highly-successful almond toffee flavored cure for intestinal worms called Santonin. Pfizer continued to grow throughout the Civil War, selling painkillers, preservatives, disinfectants, and solutions, and established itself as a successful business by the 20th century.
3. Research and Development
The research and development branch of Pfizer, Inc. is organized into two principle groups: PharmaTherapeutics, which deals with the discovery of small molecules and related modalities; and BioTherapeutics, which deals with large-molecule research, including vaccines. Pfizer has R&D locations throughout the world, and in 2007 invested over $8 billion in research and development, the largest R&D investment in the world.
2. Pfizer’s Illegal Marketing Scandal
In September of 2009, Pfizer, Inc. pleaded guilty to the illegal marketing of four drugs–arthritis drug Bextra, schizophrenia drug Geodon, antibiotic Zyvox, and neuropathic pain medicine Lyrica–for uses unapproved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The company agreed to pay a $2.3 billion settlement, the largest health care fraud settlement at the time, and $1.3 billion in criminal fines.
1. World Health Issues
Like numerous other pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer, Inc. is deeply involved in developing world health issues. The company provides the antifungal drug Fluconazole without charge to organizations in developing countries with an HIV/AIDS prevalence of more than 1 percent while also working with the GAVI Alliance and the Gates Foundation to provide deeply discounted anti-pneumococcal vaccines and affordable access to Pfizer’s long lasting injectable contraceptive.
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