Pfizer

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Pfizer Inc.

logo
legal form Corporation
ISIN US7170811035
founding 1849
Seat New York City , New York , United States
United StatesUnited States 
management Albert Bourla (CEO)

Ian Read (Chairman)

Number of employees approx. 97,000, of which approx. 2,500 in Germany (as of August 2018)
sales $ 51.8 billion (2019)
Branch Pharmacy , human medicine
Website pfizer.com

The Pfizer Inc. [ faɪzəɹ ], pronounce [ pfiːtsəɹ ], is a world-represented pharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City , New York , United States . It was founded by Charles Pfizer (actually Karl Pfizer ) and cousin Charles F. Erhart from Ludwigsburg . Pfizer is the second largest pharmaceutical company in the world after Roche , followed by Novartis . Revenue of $ 51.8 billion in 2019 represents a 1 percent decrease year over year.

The main growth preparations are: Ibrance ( Palbociclib ) Eliquis ( apixaban ) Xeljanz ( Tofacitinib ) and Vyndaqel ( tafamidis ).

Pfizer in German-speaking countries

German headquarters of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer

The company headquarters were relocated from Karlsruhe to Berlin in 2008 . German branches are located in Karlsruhe and Freiburg . Pfizer employs around 2500 people in Germany. In Austria the company is divided into two companies. Pfizer Corporation Austria Gesellschaft mbH, based in Vienna, includes prescription drugs and non-prescription products and has around 250 employees. At the production site in Orth / Donau, around 230 employees at Pfizer Manufacturing GmbH are responsible for the manufacture of vaccines to protect against meningitis (MenC) caused by meningococci of serogroup C and against early summer meningoencephalitis ( TBE ) and contribute to meeting global demand. The branch in Zurich is responsible for the sale and distribution of medicines and animal products in Switzerland . In April 2010 Pfizer acquired the OTC pharmaceutical manufacturer Whitehall-Much.

Pfizer Berlin

The head office is located at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin.

Pfizer Illertissen

The Illertissen site was sold to R-Pharm on October 1, 2014, but continues to manufacture drugs for Pfizer Inc. as a contract manufacturer for the time being. Before it was sold, this was more than 80 million packs of solid human medicines each year. One of the core competencies is the processing of highly active substances. The smoking cessation drug Champix ( varenicline ) is also produced here. In 2008, the new factory for highly effective dosage forms received the ISPE Award Facility of the year .

Pfizer Freiburg

The former Gödecke pharmaceutical plant in Freiburg was retained by Pfizer after the global restructuring measures and plant closures and is being expanded further as a solid pharmaceutical plant. After the patent for pregabalin expired in 2014, almost all drugs were produced in Freiburg in competition with so-called generics .

A new factory for the drug Eliquis is currently being built on the Freiburg site. This should go into operation in 2021.

By the end of 2018, production was expanded and partially converted to continuous manufacturing . This strengthens the location as one of the largest manufacturing and packaging locations in the entire Pfizer network.

In Freiburg (as of January 2020) around 1,300 people are employed and around 150 countries are supplied from there. More than 95% of the pharmaceuticals are exported.

The Freiburg location has been operating what was then the largest wood pellet heating system in Europe since October 2009 . It is used to generate the process steam required for the manufacture of drugs.

Pfizer Karlsruhe

After the head office moved from Pfizer to Berlin, distribution for Germany is still based at the Karlsruhe location. Karlsruhe is supplied from Pfizer locations worldwide and supplies wholesalers, hospitals and pharmacies with around 100 employees. The goods leave the warehouse within 20 minutes of receipt of the order.

Business figures

Business and employee development (respective fiscal year)
year Sales
in billions of US $ 		Balance sheet profit
in billion US $ 		Price per share
in US $ 		Employees
2005 47,405 8.085 14.89
2006 48.371 19,337 15.50
2007 48,418 8.144 15.87
2008 48.296 8.104 12.80
2009 49.269 8,635 11.16
2010 65.165 8.257 12.38
2011 61.035 10.009 15.03
2012 54.657 14,570 18.60
2013 51,584 22.003 24.07 77,700
2014 49,605 9.135 26.02 78,300
2015 48.851 6,960 29.94 97,900
2016 52.824 7.215 30.21 96,500
2017 52,546 21.308 32.07 90,200
2018 53.647 11,153 38.25 92,400

history

The Charles Pfizer & Company was founded by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart 1849 in Brooklyn, New York. The first product was santonin , an anti-parasite product . The company was very successful and in the following years expanded to include additional production facilities, administrative offices and warehouses in New York. In 1951 new plants were built worldwide; among others in Belgium, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Canada, Cuba and England. Pfizer followed suit in 1952 with the establishment of an agricultural division and from 1953 onwards specialized in food supplements by taking over JB Roerig & Co. In 1971 the German pharmaceutical manufacturer Heinrich Mack in Illertissen was taken over .

In 1996, new antibiotics were tested on children in Nigeria during a severe meningitis epidemic without adequate approvals; eleven of them died. Pfizer was sued by the Nigerian province of Kano after it became known in New York in 2007 . The out-of-court settlement in 2009 was rejected by the victims' families because of the genetic testing to determine who is entitled to compensation. After the United States Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by Pfizer in June 2010, the way is clear for trial in the United States.

In 2000, the pharmaceutical business was expanded through the takeover of Warner-Lambert (including the Gödecke production facility ) in Freiburg for 116 billion dollars, and the aquarium division was disposed of in 2002 with the sale of Tetra . After the takeover of Pharmacia in 2003, the consumer division was sold to Johnson & Johnson in 2006.

In order to save up to 1.5 billion euros, it was announced on January 21, 2007 that 10,000 jobs would be cut. On June 7, 2008, the announcement of the relocation of the German headquarters from Karlsruhe to Berlin followed.

This was followed by further takeovers (2009: Wyeth , 2010: Whitehall-Much, 2015: Hospira ), sales (2012: the baby food division to the Nestlé Group, 2013: the animal health division (since then Zoetis )) and the establishment of a joint venture for HIV -Medicine with GlaxoSmithKline 2009.

In November 2015, Pfizer and Allergan announced their merger to form Pfizer plc with new headquarters in Dublin, the Irish capital, which is significantly more favorable for tax purposes (tax inversion). Pfizer was to pay around 160 billion dollars for the takeover by the smaller Allergan (reverse takeover) by way of a share swap, which would have been the largest takeover in the history of the pharmaceutical industry to date. With sales of $ 60 billion, Pfizer would have become the world's largest drug company again. In April 2016, however, Pfizer announced that it would not pursue the proposed merger due to severely tightened US tax laws. Although the original agreements included a $ 400 million penalty in this case, it was agreed that Pfizer would pay Allergan $ 150 million.

Because Pfizer sold an epilepsy drug 2600% too expensive in Great Britain, the company was fined € 100 million. Pfizer plans to appeal the ruling.

Products

Selected well-known and top-selling products from the last few years:

With the takeover of Wyeth, the pain reliever brand Spalt , known in German-speaking countries, also came to Pfizer.

Some preparations became known through market withdrawals and the discontinuation of in-house research and clinical test phases, such as:

A novel drug for treating diabetes mellitus was the inhaled insulin preparation Exubera , whose production was discontinued on October 18, 2007, according to Pfizer's announcement, due to insufficient sales rates .

In June 2010, which was bone marrow cancer -Medikament Mylotarg (active ingredient: gemtuzumab ozogamicin ) from the US market taken as the approved under an accelerated procedure in the US drug that Pfizer on the takeover of the pharmaceutical company Wyeth had adopted an unfavorable benefit-risk Ratio showed.

Following a complaint by a generic manufacturer, Pfizer 's patent for the sexual enhancer Viagra ( Sildenafil ) was revoked by the Canadian Supreme Court in November 2012 because the disclosure about the invention and its functionality had not taken place. However, this is the prerequisite for being able to grant a temporary exploitation monopoly in the form of patent protection.

Proceedings against Pfizer in Nigeria and the United States

According to information from Nigerian authorities and various organizations, Pfizer tested the now banned antibiotic trovafloxacin ( Trovan ) on around 200 children from the Kano area ( Nigeria ) in 1996 . Five children died and others suffered damage as a result of the effect of the agent, which had not previously been tested on humans. Numerous children were denied access to a drug that was proven to be effective as part of this study.

This topic is taken up and processed in the novel The Eternal Gardener by John le Carré (and the film adaptation of the same name by Fernando Meirelles ).

The US Supreme Court paved the way for compensation proceedings in June 2010 after an out-of-court settlement between Pfizer and Kano state was rejected by the victims.

The German pediatrician and infectious disease specialist Juan Walterspiel , who was in charge of the pediatric studies at Pfizer at the time, had serious criticism of the planning and implementation of the experiments and refused to cooperate. He was then fired. A lawsuit was picked up by the Washington Post , which raised the study and its questionability. Pfizer insists that Walterspiel was terminated for other reasons not stated and that the study was in line with ethical standards. Several legal proceedings are currently ongoing in Nigeria, some of which have substantial claims for damages. Two other lawsuits have been filed in the United States by Nigerian parents. The proceedings were resumed in New York in January 2009.

In December 2010, WikiLeaks published documents that Pfizer had also tried to pressure the Nigerian prosecutor to avoid heavy fines.

On September 2, 2009, the company confirmed payment of $ 2.3 billion to end a dispute with the US government over unfair advertising practices. Among other things, it was about the advertisement for the prescription pain reliever Bextra. After reports of severe side effects, the company withdrew the drug from the market in 2005. The settlement also settles civil and criminal accusations of illegal advertising practices in connection with the drugs Zyvox, Geodon and Lyrica.

Web links

Commons : Pfizer  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Albert Bourla replaces Ian Read as Pfizer boss at the end of the year. In: handelsblatt.com. October 1, 2018, accessed July 11, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Albert Bourla replaces Ian Read as Pfizer boss at the end of the year. In: handelsblatt.com. October 1, 2018, accessed July 11, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b c Figures and facts on the German manufacturer's website www.pfizer.de
  4. ↑ a b c PFIZER REPORTS FOURTH-QUARTER AND FULL-YEAR 2019 RESULTS , PM Pfizer, January 28, 2020, accessed February 2, 2020
  5. ^ The branch in Austria - Pfizer Austria. In: www.pfizer.at. Retrieved September 8, 2016 .
  6. ^ Pfizer Switzerland ( Memento from November 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ Ronny Gert Bürckholdt: Pfizer is investing 20 million euros in Freiburg. Badische Zeitung, September 21, 2015, accessed on November 7, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Barbara Schmidt: Pfizer wants to secure its location in Freiburg in the long term with 150 million euros. Badische Zeitung, November 6, 2018, accessed on November 7, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Olaf Völker: A "green lighthouse" in Freiburg. In: Badische Zeitung of October 5, 2009.
  10. ^ Pfizer Revenue 2006-2018 | PFE. Retrieved October 22, 2018 .
  11. ↑ Company profile . Retrieved October 22, 2018 .
  12. ↑ spiegel.de: Medicines experiment: Nigeria sued Pfizer for two billion in damages. May 30, 2007.
  13. ↑ https://www.welt.de/welt_print/wirtschaft/article8253129/Pfizer-wird-wegen-Medikamenten-Tests-mit-Kinder-verklagt.html
  14. ↑ Pfizer's German headquarters goes to Berlin
  15. ^ Sueddeutsche: Pfizer takes over Wyeth ( Memento of January 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  16. ↑ Handelsblatt: Pfizer buys Hospira: Another billion-dollar takeover in the pharmaceutical industry
  17. ↑ Report in ZEIT online on April 23, 2012
  18. ↑ CNBC: Zoetis IPO Opens at $ 31.50 in Largest US Deal Since Facebook. February 1, 2013, accessed July 4, 2019 .
  19. ↑ GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer establish joint venture for HIV medicine.
  20. ↑ http://www.n-tv.de/wirtschaft/Pfizer-bremst-Obama-aus-article16411811.html
  21. ↑ http://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/industrie/pfizer-kauf-botox-steller-allergan-viagra-macher-laesst-sich-liften/12627392.html
  22. ↑ Pfizer Announces Termination of Proposed Combination with Allergan , Pfizer PM, April 6, 2016, accessed April 6, 2016
  23. ↑ The mega-deal has burst , Tagesschau.de from April 6, 2016, accessed on April 6, 2016
  24. ↑ Pfizer-Allergan merger threatens to end due to new US tax rule , Reuters April 5, 2016, accessed April 6, 2016
  25. ^ Allergan Reiterates Strong Standalone Growth Profile and Strategy Following Termination of Pfizer Transaction. Allergan, April 6, 2016, accessed April 6, 2016 .
  26. ↑ Pharmaceutical companies punished for 2600 percent price increase. In: sueddeutsche.de. December 7, 2016, accessed March 9, 2018 .
  27. ↑ Manufacturer's website www.pfizer.de
  28. ↑ Pfizer takes cancer drug Mylotarg from US market . Finanznachrichten.de , accessed on June 22, 2010.
  29. ↑ One out of 260 trillion . ORF of November 9, 2012, accessed on November 9, 2012.
  30. ↑ As doctors fought to save lives, Pfizer flew in drug trial team - Amid African meningitis epidemic, 200 children were picked to test a drug. 11 died, and their families began a fight for justice
  31. ↑ Pfizer's experiments on children in Nigeria ( Memento from July 21, 2012 in the web archive archive.today );
    Hauke ​​Goos: The Whites' Laboratory. In: Der Spiegel . 46 (November 12, 2007), pp. 112-118.
  32. ↑ n-tv: Illegal tests on children - Pfizer has to answer. on: n-tv.de , June 30, 2010.
  33. ↑ a b Nicole Perlroth: Pfizer's Nigerian nightmare . Forbes Magazine (December 9, 2008), pp. 66-68.
  34. ↑ Joe Stephens: Where Profits and Lives hang in Balance. Washington Post (December 17, 2000); S. A01
  35. ↑ Oluokun Ayorinde: Settlement On The Way. The News - Nigeria's leading Newspaper (November 24, 2008)
  36. ^ Washington Legal Foundation: Court Reinstates Tort Suit Alleging International Law Violation in Abdullahi v. Pfizer, Inc. (January 30, 2009; PDF; 21 kB).
  37. ↑ www.heise.de: Wikileaks - Ongoing protests and new revelations .