Pfizer

Overview

Pfizer Inc. is an American pharmaceutical company whose modern identity — COVID-19 vaccine maker, oncology investor — rests on an older one: it spent its first century as a fermentation chemistry company, not a drug company (Becker’s Hospital Review). Founded in 1849 in Brooklyn by chemist Charles Pfizer and confectioner Charles Erhart — cousins who borrowed $2,500 from Pfizer’s father — its first product was santonin, an anti-parasitic for intestinal worms flavored with almond-toffee (The Motley Fool; Becker’s Hospital Review). Citric acid became the main product in 1880 as soft drinks took off (Becker’s Hospital Review); in 1941 Pfizer turned its fermentation expertise to penicillin, producing it at mass scale via deep-tank fermentation — by the company’s account, most of what Allied forces carried at D-Day (The Motley Fool). Not until 1950, with the antibiotic Terramycin, did Pfizer sell its first pharmaceutical under its own label (Becker’s Hospital Review).

What the organization is known for

Pfizer is best known publicly for the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine: on August 23, 2021, it became the first COVID-19 vaccine with full FDA approval (ages 16 and older, brand name Comirnaty), replacing the emergency use authorization granted the previous December — and was then the most-administered COVID vaccine in the U.S., about 56% of doses (NPR). It is also known for scale: 2022 revenue topped $100 billion — a biopharma first — on $38 billion in Comirnaty and $19 billion from the oral antiviral Paxlovid (Fierce Pharma); other best-sellers include the anticoagulant Eliquis and the cancer drug Ibrance (The Motley Fool). And for the other side of that scale: on September 2, 2009, Pfizer agreed to pay $2.3 billion over illegal drug promotion — then the largest health care fraud settlement in the history of the U.S. Department of Justice (FBI).

Products and services

Pfizer’s portfolio spans vaccines, oncology, cardiovascular, and anti-infective products. Its COVID-19 products are Comirnaty (the Pfizer–BioNTech mRNA vaccine, fully FDA-approved for ages 16+ since August 2021) and Paxlovid, the oral antiviral that contributed $19 billion in 2021–22-era revenue before demand fell (Fierce Pharma; NPR). Current best-sellers include Eliquis and Ibrance (The Motley Fool). Historically, its landmark products were citric acid (its first top seller, from 1880), penicillin (mass-produced by deep-tank fermentation in WWII), and Terramycin, the 1950 antibiotic that launched the company’s pharmaceutical sales force (Becker’s Hospital Review). The Seagen acquisition added four approved cancer medicines, including the antibody-drug conjugates Adcetris and Padcev, to Pfizer’s oncology portfolio (MedicalXpress).

Ownership, founders and leadership

Pfizer began as a private partnership of cousins Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart in 1849 (The Motley Fool). When Erhart died in December 1891, the founders’ agreement let Charles Pfizer buy his stake at 50 percent of inventory value, making him sole owner (Becker’s Hospital Review). The company stayed private until June 22, 1942, when it offered 240,000 shares to the public (Becker’s Hospital Review); it is now publicly traded (NYSE: PFE) (The Motley Fool). Albert Bourla serves as chief executive, a role he held through the Seagen acquisition’s completion in December 2023 (MedicalXpress).

Funding and acquisitions

Pfizer has grown substantially through acquisitions. The largest recent deal is the all-cash takeover of Seagen, the Washington-state cancer biotech known for antibody-drug conjugates “designed to preferentially kill cancer cells”: announced in March 2023 and completed on December 14, 2023, for approximately $43 billion in enterprise value (MedicalXpress). The company said the deal would enable it to double its oncology platform, and CEO Albert Bourla called oncology “a significant growth driver” for Pfizer’s near- and long-term financial goals (MedicalXpress). Earlier deals noted in the company’s history include the acquisitions of Anacor Pharmaceuticals and Medivation (2016), which brought the eczema drug Eucrisa and the prostate cancer drug Xtandi (The Motley Fool).

Regulation, licenses and compliance record

Pfizer’s most significant compliance event is the September 2, 2009 settlement: Pfizer and its subsidiary Pharmacia & Upjohn agreed to pay $2.3 billion to resolve criminal and civil liability for illegally promoting Bextra, Geodon, Zyvox, and Lyrica (FBI). Pharmacia & Upjohn pleaded guilty to felony misbranding of the anti-inflammatory Bextra — pulled from the market in 2005 — “with the intent to defraud or mislead,” after promoting it for uses and dosages the FDA specifically declined to approve for safety reasons (FBI). The criminal portion totaled $1.3 billion ($1.195 billion fine plus $105 million forfeiture), with another $1 billion resolving civil False Claims Act allegations including kickbacks to physicians; whistleblowing employees brought the case in 2005 (FBI).

On the approval side, the FDA’s full approval of Comirnaty on August 23, 2021 followed the standard the agency applies to marketed vaccines: then-acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said the public could be “very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product” (NPR).

Timeline

• 1849 — Founded in Brooklyn by Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart; first product santonin (The Motley Fool).
• 1880 — Citric acid becomes the main product on soft-drink demand (Becker’s Hospital Review).
• 1891 — Erhart dies; Charles Pfizer becomes sole owner (Becker’s Hospital Review).
• 1941–1942 — Mass penicillin production via deep-tank fermentation; IPO June 22, 1942 (The Motley Fool).
• 1950 — Terramycin launches; Pfizer becomes a research-based pharmaceutical company (Becker’s Hospital Review).
• 2009 — $2.3B settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over illegal drug promotion (FBI).
• 2021 — FDA full approval of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty), August 23 (NPR).
• 2022 — Revenue tops $100B, a biopharma first (Fierce Pharma).
• 2023 — $9B guidance cut and $3.5B cost realignment as COVID sales fall (Fierce Pharma); $43B Seagen acquisition completed December 14 (MedicalXpress).

Competitors and partners

Pfizer’s defining partnership of the 2020s is with German biotech BioNTech, with which it co-developed the COVID-19 vaccine that became Comirnaty (NPR). With the Seagen acquisition, the company explicitly repositioned oncology as its growth engine as COVID-product revenues shrank, with CEO Bourla saying the combined company would form “a leading oncology organization” (MedicalXpress).

What this profile does not claim

• This profile does not compare the efficacy or safety of Comirnaty against other COVID-19 vaccines; the only approval claims stated are those reported by the FDA via NPR.
• It does not state Pfizer’s current revenue, employee count, or headquarters address — those figures were not verified from a fully-read source.
• The “most of the penicillin at D-Day” account is Pfizer’s own reported history, repeated by the industry press; it is not an independently audited production figure.
• The description of Pfizer as the largest drugmaker by prescription-drug sales dates to 2017 and may no longer hold.
• This profile does not cover drug-pricing controversies, patent litigation, or the clinical details of any product beyond what the cited sources state.
• “Pfizer” here means Pfizer Inc., the company — not Charles Pfizer, the co-founder.