Pfizer: The World’s Largest Pharma Corporation

Pfizer is a multinational pharmaceutical corporation headquartered in New York City, United States. It is one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, developing and manufacturing a range of medications and vaccines for various medical conditions such as immunology, oncology, cardiology, endocrinology, and neurology. Pfizer is also known for its development of blockbuster drugs such as Viagra, Xanax, and Zoloft, and most recently, the Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine in partnership with BioNTech. Cancer drugs Braftovi and Mektovi, as well as the experimental RSV vaccine are currently under review and approval by health regulators.

Early beginnings

Pfizer, a pharmaceutical corporation, was established in 1849 in New York City by Charles Pfizer and his cousin Charles F. Erhart. The company initially began as a producer of fine chemicals and operated solely in one building, which functioned as an office, laboratory, factory, and warehouse. In the ensuing years, Pfizer experienced growth and expanded its operations to Manhattan, where it moved its headquarters in 1868.

In 1882, the company further expanded with the establishment of a separate warehouse in Chicago. Pfizer’s early products, such as Santonin, were highly successful, and the company became recognized as the world’s leading producer of vitamin C. Pfizer’s continued success was also fueled by the acquisition of several other companies, which led to substantial earnings due to their established research and drug development. One notable acquisition was Warner-Lambert, the original manufacturer of Lipitor, a statin used to treat hypercholesterolemia.

Pfizer’s milestones and global expansion

• The discovery of oxytetracycline in 1950 helped Pfizer to expand its reach to several countries.
• Pfizer continued to create new drugs such as the broad-spectrum antibiotic Vibramycin in the 60s and 70s. In 1971, it restructured its R&D operations into a Central Research Division and increased its investment from 5% to 15% of revenue.
• The company’s emphasis on innovation yielded results in the 1980s with a series of successful drugs, starting with the COX inhibitor Feldene, which was launched in 1980. Feldene quickly became one of the most popular anti-inflammatory medications worldwide and Pfizer’s first product to generate $1 billion in revenue.
• The approval of Diflucan in 1981 marked a significant milestone for Pfizer as it was the first oral medication to treat severe fungal infections.
• In 1989, Pfizer developed Viagra to treat high blood pressure and angina, but instead, the medication was used as a treatment for erectile dysfunction.
• Pfizer also began marketing Zoloft, an antidepressant, in 1991. By 2005, Zoloft had generated over $3 billion in sales, and more than 100 million people had been treated with the drug.
• In 1996, Pfizer entered into a partnership with Eisai to gain FDA approval for Donepezil, sold under the brand Aricept, as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
• Pfizer formed a co-marketing agreement with Warner-Lambert in 1997 for Lipitor, a medication used to treat hypercholesterolemia. Lipitor became the world’s top-selling prescription medicine and contributed significantly to Pfizer’s annual revenue, generating $12 billion in 2007, which accounted for 25% of the company’s total sales.

Acquisitions

Pfizer acquired Warner-Lambert for $116 billion in June 2000, bringing together two of the fastest-growing pharmaceutical companies at the time. In 2003, Pfizer merged with Pharmacia and also purchased Searle and SUGEN, resulting in the closure of the SUGEN facility and the loss of jobs for over 300 employees. In 2006, Pfizer announced plans to acquire PowerMed, and in 2009, it acquired Wyeth for $68 billion in cash and stock, making Pfizer the largest pharmaceutical company globally.

Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine

In August 2021, the FDA granted full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, known as Comirnaty, for individuals 16 years old and above. Prior to this, in December 2020, it was the first COVID-19 vaccine to receive Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) from the FDA. The vaccine uses messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, which is relatively new, and must be kept in very cold temperatures, which can complicate distribution compared to other vaccines. The company had reported high efficacy in preventing symptomatic disease.

The company has revised its original Covid vaccine to include an element targeting the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of omicron. 

Cancer drugs

Pfizer has submitted supplemental new drug applications (NDAs) for Braftovi and Mektovi, its cancer drugs, to the FDA seeking approval in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with BRAF V600E mutation.

The FDA is expected to make a decision in the fourth quarter of 2023 following a standard review. The PHAROS study provided the basis for the NDAs, demonstrating that Braftovi and Mektovi met the primary endpoint of objective response rate in patients with BRAF V600E-mutant metastatic NSCLC. Braftovi and Mektovi are already approved for BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma, while Braftovi is approved as a monotherapy for BRAF-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer. Pfizer acquired Braftovi and Mektovi through its acquisition of Array Biopharma in 2019.

Despite the expected decline in Pfizer’s top line in 2023 due to lower demand for its COVID-19 products, the company has many new product and indication launches planned for 2023, which are expected to generate approximately $20 billion in sales by 2030, with two-thirds having blockbuster potential.

RSV Vaccine

Pfizer Inc’s experimental respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine was found to be 82% effective in preventing severe infections in infants when given to expecting mothers in the second half of their pregnancy.

The vaccine is currently under review by health regulators in the United States and Europe, and FDA approval is expected by August. If approved, it would be the first maternal vaccine available to prevent RSV disease in infants.

In comparison, Sanofi and AstraZeneca are developing a single-dose antibody, nirsevimab, for RSV prevention in infants, which is also under FDA review.

According to the recent publication of final trial data on Wednesday 5th of April, 3,570 infants were evaluated and the vaccine was shown to be 82% effective in preventing severe lower respiratory tract illness in infants in the first 90 days of life. The vaccine was 69.4% effective in preventing severe infections in the first 180 days. However, the vaccine failed to meet its second goal of reducing non-severe illness in infants.

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