Pfizer Inc. History

Company Perspectives:

Our Mission: We will achieve and sustain our place as the world's premier research-based health care company. Our continuing success as a business will benefit patients and our customers, our shareholders, our families, and the communities in which we operate around the world. Key Dates:

Key Dates:

1772:

Henry Nock founds the business that eventually becomes Wilkinson Sword.

1849:

Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart found Charles Pfizer & Company.

1866:

Parke-Davis is founded in Detroit by Hervey C. Parke and George S. Davis.

1870s:Dr. Joseph Lawrence develops the original formula for Listerine.

1877:

Wilkinson Sword begins making straight razors.

1881:

Lawrence sells his formula to Jordan Wheat Lambert, who founds Lambert Pharmacal Company.

1886:

William R. Warner founds William R. Warner & Company.

1899:

Several major U.S. gum producers merge to form American Chicle.

1900:

Charles Pfizer & Company Inc. is incorporated in New Jersey.

1916:

Warner & Co. acquires Richard Hudnut Company, a cosmetics firm.

1921:

Colonel Jacob Schick invents the Magazine Repeating Razor, forerunner of the Schick Injector razor.

1942:

Pfizer goes public.

1944:

Pfizer begins mass production of penicillin, primarily for the war effort.

1950:

Pfizer launches Terramycin, an antibiotic; Warner & Co. is renamed Warner-Hudnut, Inc.

1955:

Warner-Hudnut merges with Lambert Pharmacal to form Warner-Lambert Company.

1962:

Warner-Lambert acquires American Chicle.

1970:

Charles Pfizer & Company is renamed Pfizer Inc.; Warner-Lambert acquires Schick and Parke, Davis.

1984:

Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is founded.

1989:

Pfizer launches Procardia XL.

1992:

Pfizer launches Novasc, Zoloft, and Zithromax.

1993:

Warner-Lambert acquires Wilkinson Sword.

1995:

Pfizer acquires the animal health unit of SmithKline Beecham.

1997:

Warner-Lambert launches Lipitor through a marketing alliance with Pfizer.

1998:

Pfizer divests its Medical Technology Group; Pfizer launches Viagra.

1999:

Pfizer begins comarketing Celebrex; Warner-Lambert acquires Agouron Pharmaceuticals.

2000:

Pfizer acquires Warner-Lambert.

Company History:

Further Reading:

• Alger, Alexandra, 'Viagra Falls,' Forbes, February 7, 2000, pp. 130--32.
• Barrett, Amy, 'The Formula at Pfizer: Don't Run with the Crowd,' Business Week, May 11, 1998, pp. 96--97.
• Baum, Laurie, 'A Powerful Tonic for Warner-Lambert,' Business Week, November 30, 1987, pp. 144, 146.
• Benway, Susan Duffy, 'Just What the Doctor Ordered: `Restructuring' Revives Warner Lambert,' Barron's, December 30, 1985, pp. 35+.
• Bradford, Stacey L., 'Sweet Dreams: Gum and Mints May Help Warner-Lambert Become a Bigger Success in Drugs,' Financial World, October 21, 1996, pp. 44--45.
• Byrne, Harlan S., 'Warner-Lambert: On the Mend,' Barron's, January 2, 1995, pp. 19--20.
• Campanella, Frank W., 'Healthy Turnaround: Warner-Lambert Is Poised for an Earnings Recovery,' Barron's, February 1, 1982, pp. 35+.
• Davenport, Caroline H., 'Glowing Prospects: New Products Will Keep Pfizer Growing at a Healthy Clip,' Barron's, December 22, 1980.
• 'Did Warner-Lambert Make a `$468 Million Mistake'?,' Business Week, November 21, 1983, pp. 123+.
• Gibson, W. David, 'R & D = Rx for Growth: That's Warner-Lambert's New Corporate Formula,' Barron's, February 20, 1984, pp. 13+.
• Hayes, John R., 'Pill Selling 101,' Forbes, November 21, 1994, p. 64.
• Hensley, Scott, 'Pfizer Appoints McKinnell to Top Posts,' Wall Street Journal, August 11, 2000, p. B10.
• LaBell, Fran, 'Fat Extenders in Salad Dressings,' Food Processing, May 1992, p. 64.
• Langreth, Robert, 'Behind Pfizer's Takeover Battle: An Urgent Need,' Wall Street Journal, February 8, 2000, p. B1.
• ------, 'Pfizer's Warner-Lambert Purchase Contains Big Prize: Pipeline of Biotechnology Unit Agouron Is Stuffed with Potential Blockbusters,' Wall Street Journal, April 24, 2000, p. B4.
• ------, 'Pfizer, Warner-Lambert Agree on Terms,' Wall Street Journal, February 7, 2000, p. A3.
• Langreth, Robert, and Waldholz, Michael, 'Pfizer Pins Multibillion-Dollar Hopes on Impotence Pill,' Wall Street Journal, March 19, 1998, p. B1.
• Loynd, Harry J., Parke-Davis: The Never-Ending Search for Better Medicines, New York: Newcomen Society in North America, 1957.
• Lubove, Seth, 'Failure Focuses the Mind,' Forbes, November 8, 1993, pp. 76--78.
• Mahar, Maggie, 'Legal Heartbreak?: Pfizer Faces Huge Liability If It Loses a Key Lawsuit,' Barron's, April 2, 1990, pp. 8+.
• Mines, Samuel, Pfizer: An Informal History, New York: Pfizer, 1978.
• O'Reilly, Brian, 'The Pills That Saved Warner-Lambert,' Fortune, October 13, 1997, pp. 94--95.
• 'Pfizer: Counting on `Spare Parts' to Keep Up Its Momentum,' Business Week, January 9, 1984, pp. 109+.
• 'Pfizer Joins with Other Drug Makers on Price Control,' Chemical Marketing Reporter, February 1, 1993, p. 7.
• 'Pfizer Wins U.S. FDA Approval for Norvasc,' European Chemical News, August 17, 1992, p. 23.
• Pratt, Edmund T., Jr., Pfizer: Bringing Science to Life, New York: Newcomen Society of the United States, 1985.
• Rodengen, Jeffrey L., The Legend of Pfizer, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.: Write Stuff Syndicate, 1999.
• Roman, Monica, 'Pfizer Finally Sees Its Payoff,' Business Week, July 1, 1991, pp. 86+.
• ------, 'Pfizer's Pipeline Is Full, But Will the Drugs Flow Fast Enough?,' Business Week, September 11, 1989, pp. 74+.
• Rundle, Rhonda L., and Waldholz, Michael, 'Warner-Lambert Agrees to Buy Agouron,' Wall Street Journal, January 27, 1999, p. A3.
• Schroeder, Michael, 'Heart Trouble at Pfizer,' Business Week, February 26, 1990, pp. 47+.
• Starr, Cynthia, 'First-Ever Alzheimer's Drug Brings Some Hope to Millions,' Drug Topics, October 11, 1993, pp. 16--18.
• Stipp, David, 'Why Pfizer Is So Hot,' Fortune, May 11, 1998, pp. 88--90, 92, 94.
• Tanner, Ogden, Twenty-Five Years of Innovation: The Story of Pfizer Central Research, Lyme, Conn.: Greenwich Publishing, 1996.
• 'Turning Warner-Lambert into a Marketing Conglomerate,' Business Week, March 5, 1979, p. 60.
• 'Warner-Lambert: Reversing Direction to Correct Neglect,' Business Week, June 15, 1981, pp. 65+.
• Weber, Joseph, 'Curing Warner-Lambert--Before It Gets Sick,' Business Week, December 9, 1991, pp. 91, 94.
• Weber, Joseph, et al., 'The New Era of Lifestyle Drugs,' Business Week, May 11, 1998, pp. 92+.
• Zipser, Andy, 'Beyond Shiley: A Vote for Pfizer,' Barron's, May 27, 1991, pp. 28+.

Source: International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 38. St. James Press, 2001.