Pfizer Never Stronger As Company Celebrates 150th Anniversary, Steere Tells Shareholders At Annual Meeting
Core Values Evolved From Pfizer Culture, Underpin Its Success
NEW YORK, April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- William C. Steere, Jr., chairman and CEO of Pfizer Inc., today told shareholders at the company's annual meeting that the company has never been stronger.
''This year, as Pfizer celebrates its 150th anniversary, you can be proud of what your company has accomplished,'' Mr. Steere told some 1,500 shareholders and guests at the 1999 Annual Meeting held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.
''Pfizer has grown from a small business in Brooklyn, N.Y., with one product and two employees to a global enterprise that employs nearly 50,000 people on six continents,'' he said.
''The history of Pfizer is the story of a great humanitarian enterprise,'' he concluded. ''It is a story of great science, impressive commitment and remarkable people. I salute the outstanding people of Pfizer for all they have done and are doing to continue this great legacy.''
From that history, he noted, come the company's core values: innovation, integrity, respect for people, performance, leadership, teamwork, customer focus and community.
''These are the values that have made Pfizer into the outstanding company that it is today,'' Mr. Steere said. ''And, they are the values that will, I believe, help make Pfizer the number one pharmaceutical company in the world.''
Mr. Steere noted that in 1998, Pfizer had three products that had worldwide sales exceeding $1 billion: Norvasc, the world's leading medicine for the treatment of hypertension and angina; Zoloft, one of the world's leading anti-depressants; and Zithromax, the most prescribed brand-name oral antibiotic in the U.S.
''In addition,'' he said, ''Pfizer scientists are continuing to forge ahead with an ambitious R&D program. Currently we have about 180 research projects in discovery and development -- more than at any time in our history.
Henry A. McKinnell, Ph.D., and John F. Niblack, Ph.D., also addressed the meeting. Dr. McKinnell, executive vice president of the company and a member of the Pfizer board of directors, heads the company's global pharmaceuticals business. Reviewing the company's performance for 1998, he noted that Pfizer moved from 11th in the world in pharmaceuticals sales in 1990 to 2nd in 1998, when credited for half of the sales of co-promoted products recorded by others.
''The introduction of new and innovative products as well as the continuing strong performance of established products has allowed us, thus far in the decade, to outpace the growth rate of the worldwide pharmaceutical market,'' Dr. McKinnell said. ''During the past six years, Pfizer sales, on average, have grown at well over the rate of the rest of the industry.''
He said that the company's performance was strong across the entire pharmaceutical product line, citing as an example Viagra, for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.
''Equally remarkable as the strong demand for Viagra, however, has been the speed of its worldwide rollout, with launches in 40 countries in 1998,'' he said. ''And in January 1999, the product was approved for marketing in Japan only six months after filing.''
He also cited the unprecedented early success of two recently launched products Pfizer co-promotes with their discoverers: Lipitor, launched early last year with Warner-Lambert Company, for the treatment of elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood; and Celebrex, for the treatment of arthritis and pain, launched by Pfizer and G.D. Searle in January.
Dr. McKinnell noted that Trovan, an antibiotic launched early last year, is another remarkable story. ''Trovan's 14 indications are the most approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the initial introduction of an antibiotic. By the end of last year, Trovan had already become the ninth most prescribed branded antibiotic in the U.S. Furthermore, Trovan's gains have not come at the expense of Zithromax, which increased its new prescription share from 9.6 percent to 12.4 percent during Trovan's roll-out in the U.S.''
Aricept, discovered by the Eisai Company of Japan, remains the only truly safe and effective treatment for mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. One measure of its success is the five-fold growth in demand for Alzheimer's treatment since the product's launch in February 1997.
Lipitor, he said, became the most prescribed drug in its class within a year of its launch, and now has some 40 percent of new prescriptions for lipid-lowering agents.
''Lipitor was one of the two most successful product launches in U.S. industry history,'' he said, ''the other, of course was Viagra. We participated in both. We are now in the process of adding a third to this group: Celebrex.''
Celebrex now receives more than 330,000 prescriptions a week in the U.S. -- more than any other arthritis treatment except ibuprofen -- less than three months after launch, Dr. McKinnell noted. ''Celebrex is a significant medical advance,'' he said. ''It will bring new help and relief to arthritis sufferers.''
Dr. McKinnell said the company has worked to increase the size, strength and quality of the sales forces around the world, expanding to more than 4,900 in the U.S. and more than 17,700 worldwide.
''Plus, the quality of our field forces remains second to none,'' he said. ''For example, for the fourth year in a row, physicians have cited Pfizer as having the highest quality field sales organization in the U.S.''
In Consumer Health, Dr. McKinnell noted that recent line extensions, including Visine Tears and Cortizone 10-Plus had a positive impact on performance. Consumer products include six brands that are category leaders in the U.S. -- BenGay, Cortizone, Desitin, Rid, Unisom and Visine.
The Animal Health business, he said, has increased revenues, excluding the effect of foreign exchange, despite a challenging operating environment.
Dr. Niblack, executive vice president of the company and a member of the Pfizer board of directors, heads the company's global research and development and licensing efforts. He discussed the challenge of maintaining the high level of productivity that has been the hallmark of Pfizer Central Research for the past decade.
''Pfizer is now concluding the most successful decade in our 150 year history,'' he said. ''In the past 10 years, we have launched 11 major products, six in the past three years. We are particularly proud of the contribution that Pfizer research had made to this success.''
In order to continue to contribute in this way, he said, the company is expanding its worldwide R&D capacity. Projects now underway include discovery technology centers in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and San Francisco, California, as well as an animal health vaccine center at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.
''We are also investing in the most advanced technologies available for our scientists to employ in their search for new medicines,'' he said, explaining that these technologies will add to the speed and efficiency of the discovery process.
Referring to a different sort of investment, he said, ''We are also continuing our strategy of leveraging our internal research initiatives with wide-ranging external technology alliances. Eleven major new research alliances were initiated during the past year alone.''
As an example of the kind of compound in development, he cited CP-424,391, which stimulates the body to produce growth hormone. ''We hope with CP-424,391 to test the hypothesis that stimulating the natural production of growth hormone will improve the quality of life in the elderly by preventing or reversing frailty.''
Pfizer is working with Inhale Therapeutic Systems on a system that would allow patients to inhale their insulin instead of taking an injection, he said. Inhaled insulin will reduce the number of injections Type I diabetics require and could be used by Type II diabetics as an alternative or adjunct to oral agents. Pfizer and Hoechst Marion Roussel AG have entered into worldwide agreements to manufacture insulin, and co-develop and co-promote inhaled insulin.
''Inhaled insulin has been very well-tolerated in our clinical studies,'' Dr. Niblack said. ''It showed no adverse effects on lung function, and achieved blood glucose control after meals similar to injected insulin.''
Despite their best attempts to control blood-sugar levels, many diabetic patients will still develop long-term complications from the disease with ensuing damage to the nerves, kidneys, heart and eyes. Pfizer is developing Alond to treat and prevent these devastating conditions.
''We already have encouraging interim clinical results in the prevention of nerve damage,'' said Dr. Niblack, ''and are following up these findings in large-scale trials worldwide. These trials are also providing data on Alond's effects on diabetic kidney and heart disease.''
Dr. Niblack briefly described voriconazole, an antifungal agent under development, and darifenacin, for the treatment of urinary incontinence. Voriconazole, he said builds on the Pfizer world-class antifungal Diflucan, but has an extended spectrum of activity. It is effective against both yeast and mold infections, and can be effective in very serious infections, such as those in the brain or eye.
Early clinical data suggest that darifenacin could offer better control than existing drugs, he said, without an increase in side effects. Pfizer will begin a full worldwide development program this year.
Dr. Niblack also discussed three products in the late stages of development or undergoing the final stages of FDA review: Tikosyn, for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, and Relpax, for the treatment of migraine, and Zeldox, for psychotic disorders.
''Tikosyn has many advantages over older therapies,'' Dr. Niblack said, ''including its ability to maintain normal heart rhythm over the long-term with a low burden of unwanted side effects. The FDA in March issued an approvable letter for Tikosyn, and we are in the final stages of labeling discussions with the agency.''
Relpax, taken orally as needed, offers fast, powerful migraine relief, Dr. Niblack said. ''Our clinical data show that within one hour, 40 percent of patients with moderate or severe migraine experience significant or complete headache relief with Relpax, and many see relief within 30 minutes. It was well tolerated in trials and showed superior efficacy to Imitrex, the current leading therapy.''
As to Zeldox, Dr. Niblack said that Pfizer is conducting a new head-to-head trial with other antipsychotic medicines in order to answer questions raised by the FDA in its non-approvable letter. ''We expect to have final data from this trial later this year, and, if favorable, we will refile the Zeldox New Drug Application shortly thereafter.''
Pfizer Inc. is a research-based global pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets innovative medicines for humans and animals. The company reported revenues of more than $13.5 billion in 1998 and expects to spend about $2.8 billion on research and development this year. In 1999, Pfizer celebrates its 150th anniversary. |
