The Pfuss About Pfizer
#4 in The Biggest BIG PHARMAs and Why They're Big series
In this series, The Biggest BIG PHARMAs and Why They're Big series, I’m going to be looking at the top Pharma companies by market cap and explore some of their history and biggest money making products.
Pfizer
Market
As of September 2022 Pfizer has a market cap of $256.76 Billion, making it the fourth largest pharmaceutical company and the 30th most valuable company.
About
CEO: Dr. Albert Bourla (Pfizer site bio)
25 years at Pfizer
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and PhD in Biotechnology
Greek Sephardic Jew
2021 CEO of the year (after Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine)
2022 Genesis prize
Strong oponent of prescription drug price controls, and donor to politicians who oppose them from both parties
Headquartered in Manhattan, NY
More than 90,000 employees worldwide
https://www.pfizer.com/
https://www.drugwatch.com/manufacturers/pfizer/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfizer
History
1849 - Pfizer is founded in Brooklyn by Charles Pfizer and his cousin Charles Erhart, German immigrants.
1868 - Pfizer moves headquarters to Manhattan.
1882 - Pfizer opens offices in Chicago.
1905-1906 - Emile Pfizer becomes president of the company. Charles Pfizer dies. Company sales exceed $3 million.
1936 - Richard Pasternack develops a new method for producing vitamin C, and Pfizer initiates a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week production schedule, making Pfizer the leading producer of vitamin C.
1939 - Pfizer’s fermentation process for producing vitamin C reduces the cost from $1.25 per pound to 20 cents per pound.
1941 - Pfizer begins to manufacture penicillin by fermentation technology to aid the WWII war effort.
1944 - Pfizer becomes the largest producer of penicillin.
1950s - The focus shifts to pharmaceutical research after WWII, and Pfizer expands internationally to countries including Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico and the UK
1950 - Terramycin, a broad spectrum antibiotic is developed as part of the company’s first discovery program and becomes its first Pfizer branded product. Pfizer expands to international markets.
1953 - Pfizer acquires J.B. Roerig adding nutritional supplements to its portfolio
1955-1983 - Pfizer partners with Japan’s Taito drug manufacturer in 1955 and acquires them in 1983.
1958 - Pfizers opens plants in Mexico, Italy & Turkey and increases personeel internationally from 4,300 to 7,000.
1967 - A new once-a-day broad-spectrum antibiotic, Vibramycin, is introduced and becomes a top seller.
1971 - Pfizer acquires Mack Illertissen, a manufacturer of pharmaceuticals and chemicals. The Central Research division is established for R&D worldwide.
1972 - Pfizer sales cross a billion dollars
1976 - Pfizer introduces Minipress for the control of high blood pressure.
1980 - Feldene becomes one of the top prescription anti-inflamatories, and becomes the first product to reach a total of a billion dollars in sales
1984 - Glucotrol, a diabetes medication is launched
1986 - Pfizer introduces Unasyn, an injectable antibiotic
1989 - Pfizer launches Procardia extended release, once-a-day medication for angina and hypertension.
1992 - Pfizer rolls out Zoloft for depression, Norvasc for angina and hypertension and Zithromax for respiratory and skin infections.
1995 - Pfizer’s Animal Health Division buys SmithKline Beecham’s animal health business making Pfizer a leader in animal drugs.
1997 - Fortune names Pfizer the world’s most admired Pharmaceutical company .
1998 - Pfizer launches Viagra for treatment of erectile dysfunction.
1999 - Forbes names Pfizer ‘company of the year’.
2000 - Pfizer merges with Warner Lambert to form ‘the new Pfizer’. Warner Lambert was founded in the same era as Pfizer and had a rich history of drug and consumer products manufacturing including Listerin, Polio vaccine, Halls, Chiclets, Dentyne, and Lipitor.
2003 - Pfizer merges with Pharmacia Corporation.
2004 - Pfizer launches Caduet, a single pill treatment for high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
2005 - Pfizer launches Lyrica, a treatment for both neuropathic pain from diabetic neuropathy and partial onset seizures from epilepsy.
2006 - Sutent is launched. It’s an oral treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma or advanced kidney cancer.
2007 - Selzentry is added to Pfizer’s catalog. It’s an oral treatment for HIV.
2009 - Pfizer acquires Wyeth.
2011 - Pfizer acquires King Pharmaceuticals, the producer of the EpiPen and other emergency injectables.
2012 - FDA approves Xeljanz for rehumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis. In 2018 the drug had sales of $1.77 billion, surpassing Humira sales
2014 - Pfizer acquires Baxter International’s marketed vaccine portfolio.
2015 - Pfizer acquires Hospira, whose portfolio includes injectable anti-infectives, anti-inflammatories and cytotoxics (for oncology)
2016 - Watson Health and Pfizer announce a collaboration to use Watson for Drug Discovery on Pfizer’s immuno-oncology research.
2018 - Research into Alzheimer’s and Parkinsonism treatments ceases, costing 300 researchers their jobs. Pfizer signs an agreement with BioNTech to conduct joint research including for mRNA vaccines for influenza.
2020 - Pfizer plays a major role in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, producing a leading vaccine and Paxlovid, a therapeutic drug
CEO Albert Bourla turned down money from Operation Warp Speed, fearing that there would be too many strings attached.
Vaccine approved in July 2020 and sold 100 million doses to the US government for $1.95 Billion & sold 200 million doses to the EU
Dark stuff:
“In 1996, an outbreak of measles, cholera, and bacterial meningitis occurred in Nigeria. Pfizer representatives and personnel from a contract research organization (CRO) traveled to Kano to set up a clinical trial and administer an experimental antibiotic, trovafloxacin, to approximately 200 children.[198] Local Kano officials reported that more than fifty children died in the experiment, while many others developed mental and physical deformities.[199] The nature and frequency of both fatalities and other adverse outcomes were similar to those historically found among pediatric patients treated for meningitis in sub-Saharan Africa.[200] In 2001, families of the children, as well as the governments of Kano and Nigeria, filed lawsuits regarding the treatment.[201] According to Democracy Now!, "[r]esearchers did not obtain signed consent forms, and medical personnel said Pfizer did not tell parents their children were getting the experimental drug."[202] The lawsuits also accused Pfizer of using the outbreak to perform unapproved human testing, as well as allegedly under-dosing a control group being treated with traditional antibiotics in order to skew the results of the trial in favor of Trovan. Nigerian medical personnel as well as at least one Pfizer physician said the trial was conducted without regulatory approval.[203][204]” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfizer)
“2006, Pfizer ceased development of torcetrapib, a drug that increases production of HDL, which reduces LDL thought to be correlated to heart disease. During a Phase III clinical trial involving 15,000 patients, more deaths than expected occurred in the group that took the medicine, and the mortality rate of patients taking the combination of torcetrapib and Lipitor (82 deaths during the study) was 60% higher than those taking Lipitor alone (52 deaths during the study). Lipitor alone was not implicated in the results, but Pfizer lost nearly $1 billion developing the failed drug and its stock price dropped 11% on the day of the announcement” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfizer)
“Between 2007 and 2010, Pfizer spent $3.3 million on investigations and legal fees and recovered about $5.1 million, and had another $5 million of pending recoveries from civil lawsuits against makers of counterfeit prescription drugs. Pfizer has hired customs and narcotics experts worldwide to track down fakes and assemble evidence that can be used to pursue civil suits for trademark infringement.[36]”(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfizer)
In 2021, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism accused Pfizer of requesting two countries in Latin America put sovereign assets as collateral for COVID-19 vaccine payments, as well as other ‘high-level bullying’. Also in 2021, Pfizer subcontractor Ventavia falsified data, unblinded patients, inadequately trained vaccinators and was slow to follow up on adverse events in Pfizer’s phase III trials.
Pfizer has been involved in several illegal marketing suits for drugs such as gabapentin, Bextra, Rapamune, Geodon and Lyrica. Accusers allege that Pfizer made false claims and paid kickbacks.
In 2022, Moderna announced it will sue Pfizer for infringing on patents of its mRNA technology.
https://www.pfizer.com/about/history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfizer
https://www.drugwatch.com/manufacturers/pfizer/
Biggest products
Comirnaty - COVID-19 vaccine
Eliquis - Anti-coagulant (blood thinner) used to reduce stroke risk, treat deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism or reduce risk of blood clots following hip or knee replacement
Ibrance (palbociclib) - oral treatment for HR+, HER2- metastatic breast cancer
Prevnar immunizations - for invasive pneumococcal disease
Xeljanz (tofacitinib)- Oral treatment for autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, psoriatic arthritis & ankylosing spondylitis
Vyndamax - treatment for transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM)
Xtandi - Prostate cancer treatment
Inlyta (axitinib) - Kidney cancer treatment
Nexium24 HR - Over the counter heartburn drug
Advil - Over the counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatory pain reliever
Viagra - Erectile dysfunction treatment
Xanax - Anti-anxiety medication
Zoloft - SSRI anti-depressant
Lipitor - Cholesterol medicine
Chantix - Smoking cessation drug
Bextra (valdecoxib)- Cox-2 inhibitor for the treatment of Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis
Depo-Testosterone - Testosterone replacement therapy
EpiPen - Auto-injector emergency allergy medicine
Celebrex - Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory pain killer
Zithromax - Macrolide antibiotic (bacterial infections)
Protonix - Proton pump inhibitor for acid reduction
Prempro - Hormone replacement therapy for
(https://www.statista.com/statistics/253788/pfizers-top-products-based-on-revenues/)
https://www.drugwatch.com/manufacturers/pfizer/