Difference between revisions of "Pfizer"

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'''Pfizer Inc.''' is a multinational pharmaceutical corporation. In 2012, it was one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and ranked 57 on the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest [[United States]] corporations by total revenue.<ref>''[http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-03/D9TP13I80.htm "Pfizer moves higher amid persistent breakup talk"]''</ref><ref>''[http://fortune.com/fortune500/list/ "Fortune 500 Companies 2018: Who Made the List"]''</ref>
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'''Pfizer Inc.''' is a multinational pharmaceutical corporation. In 2012, it was one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and ranked 57 on the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest [[United States]] corporations by total revenue<ref>''[http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-03/D9TP13I80.htm "Pfizer moves higher amid persistent breakup talk"]''</ref><ref>''[http://fortune.com/fortune500/list/ "Fortune 500 Companies 2018: Who Made the List"]''</ref>, a position it has reached through aggressive marketing and buying up competitors.
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==Products==
 
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Pfizer develops and produces medicines and [[vaccines]] for a wide range of medical disciplines, including immunology, oncology, cardiology, endocrinology, and neurology. Its products include the blockbuster drug Lipitor (atorvastatin), used to lower Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) blood cholesterol; Lyrica (pregabalin) for neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia; Diflucan (fluconazole), an oral antifungal medication; Zithromax (azithromycin), an antibiotic; Viagra (sildenafil) for erectile dysfunction; and Celebrex (also Celebra, celecoxib), an anti-inflammatory drug.
 
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===Trovan===
 
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In 2007 [[The Guardian]] reported that [[Nigeria]] is suing Pfizer for $7bn in damages for the families of children who died or suffered serious side effects when the antibiotic ''Trovan'' was administered in the northern state of Kano during a meningitis outbreak in 1996.<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jun/05/health.healthandwellbeing1</ref>
 
  
 
==Mergers==
 
==Mergers==
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In 2016, Pfizer was expected to merge with Allergan to create the Ireland-based "Pfizer plc" in a deal that would have been worth US$160 billion.<ref>''[https://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/24/us-allergan-m-a-pfizer-idUSKBN0TB0UT20151124 "Pfizer to buy Allergan in $160 billion deal"]''</ref> The merger was called off in April 2016, however, because of new rules from the [[US Department of the Treasury]] against tax inversions, a method of avoiding taxes by merging with a foreign company.<ref>''[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-allergan-m-a-pfizer-idUSKCN0X3188 "Pfizer, Allergan scrap $160 billion deal after U.S. tax rule change"]''</ref> The company has made the second-largest pharmaceutical settlement with the [[United States Department of Justice]].
+
Pfizer has a long history of mergers, partly for tax reasons, partly to get rid of competitors. In 2016, Pfizer was expected to merge with Allergan to create the Ireland-based "Pfizer plc" in a deal that would have been worth US$160 billion.<ref>''[https://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/24/us-allergan-m-a-pfizer-idUSKBN0TB0UT20151124 "Pfizer to buy Allergan in $160 billion deal"]''</ref> The merger was called off in April 2016, however, because of new rules from the [[US Department of the Treasury]] against tax inversions, a method of avoiding taxes by merging with a foreign company.<ref>''[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-allergan-m-a-pfizer-idUSKCN0X3188 "Pfizer, Allergan scrap $160 billion deal after U.S. tax rule change"]''</ref> The company has made the second-largest pharmaceutical settlement with the [[United States Department of Justice]].
  
 
On 19 December 2018, Pfizer announced a joint merger of their consumer healthcare division with UK pharma giant [[GlaxoSmithKline]] which maintains a controlling 68% of shares.<ref>''[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46616713 "GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer merge healthcare arms"]''</ref>
 
On 19 December 2018, Pfizer announced a joint merger of their consumer healthcare division with UK pharma giant [[GlaxoSmithKline]] which maintains a controlling 68% of shares.<ref>''[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46616713 "GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer merge healthcare arms"]''</ref>
 +
 +
==Products==
 +
Pfizer develops and produces medicines and [[vaccines]] for a wide range of medical disciplines, including immunology, oncology, cardiology, endocrinology, and neurology. Its products include the blockbuster drug Lipitor (atorvastatin), used to lower Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) blood cholesterol; Lyrica (pregabalin) for neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia; Diflucan (fluconazole), an oral antifungal medication; Zithromax (azithromycin), an antibiotic; Viagra (sildenafil) for erectile dysfunction; and Celebrex (also Celebra, celecoxib), an anti-inflammatory drug.
  
 
==COVID-19 vaccine==
 
==COVID-19 vaccine==
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:“I’ve been in vaccine development for 35 years,” said [[William Gruber]], Pfizer’s senior vice president of vaccine clinical research and development. “I’ve seen some really good things. This is extraordinary.” He later added: “This really bodes well for us being able to get a handle on the epidemic and get us out of this situation.”<ref>''[https://www.statnews.com/2020/11/09/covid-19-vaccine-from-pfizer-and-biontech-is-strongly-effective-early-data-from-large-trial-indicate/ "Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech is strongly effective, early data from large trial indicate"]''</ref>
 
:“I’ve been in vaccine development for 35 years,” said [[William Gruber]], Pfizer’s senior vice president of vaccine clinical research and development. “I’ve seen some really good things. This is extraordinary.” He later added: “This really bodes well for us being able to get a handle on the epidemic and get us out of this situation.”<ref>''[https://www.statnews.com/2020/11/09/covid-19-vaccine-from-pfizer-and-biontech-is-strongly-effective-early-data-from-large-trial-indicate/ "Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech is strongly effective, early data from large trial indicate"]''</ref>
  
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==Criminal and Unethical Activities==
 +
===Cartel Pricing===
 +
*Pfizer has been at the center of controversies over price fixing for more than 50 years. In [[1958]] it was one of six drug companies accused<ref>http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30914F93D5A117B93C1A91783D85F4C8585F9</ref> by the Federal Trade Commission of fixing prices on antibiotics. The company was also charged with making false statements to the U.S. Patent Office to obtain a patent on tetracycline.
 +
 +
===Withholding Safety Problems===
 +
*The US [[Food and Drug Administration]] expressed great concern<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/27/us/recall-urged-of-heart-valve-said-to-have-a-serious-defect.html</ref> about reports of dozens of fatalities linked to heart valves made by Pfizer’s Shiley division. In 1986, as the death toll reached 125, Pfizer ended production<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/28/us/manufacturer-ends-production-of-heart-valve.html</ref> of all models of the valves. Yet by that point they were implanted in tens of thousands of people, who worried that the devices could fracture and fail at any moment.
 +
 +
In 1991 an FDA task force charged that Shiley had withheld information about safety problems from regulators in order to get initial approval for its valves and that the company continued to keep the FDA in the dark. A November 7, 1991 investigation in the Wall Street Journal asserted that Shiley had been deliberately falsifying manufacturing records relating to valve fractures.
 +
 +
===Withholding Trial Results===
 +
*In 2004, in the wake of revelations about dangerous side effects of [[Merck]]’s painkiller Vioxx, Pfizer agreed<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/20/business/20drug.html</ref> to suspend television advertising for a related medication called Celebrex. The following year, Pfizer admitted<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/01/business/01drug.html</ref> that a [[1999]] clinical trial found that elderly patients taking Celebrex had a greatly elevated risk of heart problems.
 +
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===Testing Dangerous Drugs in Africa===
 +
*In [[2000]] Pfizer was accused<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/02/AR2007070201255.html</ref> of testing a dangerous new antibiotic called Trovan on children in [[Nigeria]] without receiving proper consent from their parents. The experiment occurred during a 1996 [[meningitis]] epidemic in the country. In 2001 Pfizer was sued<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/30/business/families-sue-pfizer-on-test-of-antibiotic.html</ref> in U.S. federal court by thirty Nigerian families, who accused the company of using their children as human guinea pigs.<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jun/05/health.healthandwellbeing1</ref>
 +
 +
In 2006 a panel of Nigerian medical experts concluded<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/06/AR2006050601338.html</ref> that Pfizer had violated international law. In 2009 the company agreed<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/30/AR2009073001847.html</ref> to pay $75 million to settle some of the lawsuits that had been brought in Nigerian courts.The U.S. case was settled<ref>http://harvardhumanrights.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/breaking-news-settlement-in-abdullahi-v-pfizer/</ref> in [[2011]] for an undisclosed amount.
 +
 +
===Lying and Digging Dirt on Opponents===
 +
Classified U.S. State Department cables made public in [[2010]] by [[Wikileaks]] indicated<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/11/AR2010121102884.html</ref> that Pfizer had hired investigators to dig up dirt on Nigeria’s former attorney general as a way to get leverage in one of the remaining cases. Pfizer had to apologize<ref>http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/press/release.cfm?id=4941&cat=press-release</ref> over the revelation in the cables that it had falsely claimed that the group [[Doctors Without Borders]] was also dispensing Trovan during the Nigerian meningitis epidemic.
 +
 +
===Bribery===
 +
In 1976 Pfizer was one of the many companies that disclosed<ref>http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0711F83F5F167493C2AB1788D85F428785F9</ref> that it had made questionable payments to foreign government officials. The company said that about $265,000 had been paid to officials in three countries but did not identify them.
 +
 +
In August 2012 the U.S. [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] announced<ref>http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2012/2012-152.htm</ref> that it had reached a $45 million settlement with Pfizer to resolve charges that its subsidiaries, especially Wyeth, had bribed overseas doctors and other healthcare professionals to increase foreign sales.
 +
 +
===Firing Employees for Raising Safety Concerns===
 +
In 2010 a US federal jury awarded<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/business/03pfizer.html</ref> $1.37 million to a former Pfizer scientist who claimed she was sickened by a genetically engineered virus at a company lab and was then fired for raising safety concerns.
 
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{{SMWDocs}}
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
{{reflist}}
 
{{reflist}}

Revision as of 10:10, 19 November 2020

Group.png Pfizer  
(Big pharma) Powerbase SourcewatchRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
Pfizer.svg
Formation1849
HeadquartersNew York City
Interest ofEhden Biber, Tiffany Dover, Fazze, Owen Smith, Cristian Terheș, Vasudha Vats
Member ofAlliance for Biosecurity, Business Roundtable, Council on Foreign Relations/Corporate Members, Transatlantic Policy Network
Sponsored byBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Exposed byMichèle Rivasi
Subpage•Pfizer/CEO
•Pfizer/Vice President

Pfizer Inc. is a multinational pharmaceutical corporation. In 2012, it was one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and ranked 57 on the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue[1][2], a position it has reached through aggressive marketing and buying up competitors.

Mergers

Pfizer has a long history of mergers, partly for tax reasons, partly to get rid of competitors. In 2016, Pfizer was expected to merge with Allergan to create the Ireland-based "Pfizer plc" in a deal that would have been worth US$160 billion.[3] The merger was called off in April 2016, however, because of new rules from the US Department of the Treasury against tax inversions, a method of avoiding taxes by merging with a foreign company.[4] The company has made the second-largest pharmaceutical settlement with the United States Department of Justice.

On 19 December 2018, Pfizer announced a joint merger of their consumer healthcare division with UK pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline which maintains a controlling 68% of shares.[5]

Products

Pfizer develops and produces medicines and vaccines for a wide range of medical disciplines, including immunology, oncology, cardiology, endocrinology, and neurology. Its products include the blockbuster drug Lipitor (atorvastatin), used to lower Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) blood cholesterol; Lyrica (pregabalin) for neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia; Diflucan (fluconazole), an oral antifungal medication; Zithromax (azithromycin), an antibiotic; Viagra (sildenafil) for erectile dysfunction; and Celebrex (also Celebra, celecoxib), an anti-inflammatory drug.

COVID-19 vaccine

On 9 November 2020, Pfizer and partner BioNTech announced that their vaccine against COVID-19 was strongly effective, exceeding expectations with results that are likely to be met with cautious excitement — and relief — in the face of the global pandemic.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla instantly cashed in on the announcement, selling 60 percent of his Pfizer stock at $41.99, its highest level in more than a year. [6] The sale had been arranged in advance under a so-called Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, which allows corporate executives to make predetermined stock transactions in compliance with insider trading laws. Bourla adopted the trading plan in August of this year.[7]

Also Sally Susman, the company’s executive vice president and chief corporate affairs officer, dumped more than 43,000 shares to the tune of about $1.8 million. [8] The sale was similarly made under a Rule 10b5-1 plan Susman adopted in November 2019.

The vaccine was the first to be tested in the United States to generate late-stage data. The companies said an early analysis of the results showed that individuals who received two injections of the vaccine three weeks apart experienced more than 90% fewer cases of symptomatic Covid-19 than those who received a placebo. For months, researchers have cautioned that a vaccine that might only be 60% or 70% effective.

The Phase 3 study is ongoing and additional data could affect results.

In keeping with guidance from the Food and Drug Administration, the companies will not file for an emergency use authorisation to distribute the vaccine until they reach another milestone: when half of the patients in their study have been observed for any safety issues for at least two months following their second dose. Pfizer expects to cross that threshold in the third week of November:

“I’ve been in vaccine development for 35 years,” said William Gruber, Pfizer’s senior vice president of vaccine clinical research and development. “I’ve seen some really good things. This is extraordinary.” He later added: “This really bodes well for us being able to get a handle on the epidemic and get us out of this situation.”[9]

Criminal and Unethical Activities

Cartel Pricing

  • Pfizer has been at the center of controversies over price fixing for more than 50 years. In 1958 it was one of six drug companies accused[10] by the Federal Trade Commission of fixing prices on antibiotics. The company was also charged with making false statements to the U.S. Patent Office to obtain a patent on tetracycline.

Withholding Safety Problems

  • The US Food and Drug Administration expressed great concern[11] about reports of dozens of fatalities linked to heart valves made by Pfizer’s Shiley division. In 1986, as the death toll reached 125, Pfizer ended production[12] of all models of the valves. Yet by that point they were implanted in tens of thousands of people, who worried that the devices could fracture and fail at any moment.

In 1991 an FDA task force charged that Shiley had withheld information about safety problems from regulators in order to get initial approval for its valves and that the company continued to keep the FDA in the dark. A November 7, 1991 investigation in the Wall Street Journal asserted that Shiley had been deliberately falsifying manufacturing records relating to valve fractures.

Withholding Trial Results

  • In 2004, in the wake of revelations about dangerous side effects of Merck’s painkiller Vioxx, Pfizer agreed[13] to suspend television advertising for a related medication called Celebrex. The following year, Pfizer admitted[14] that a 1999 clinical trial found that elderly patients taking Celebrex had a greatly elevated risk of heart problems.

Testing Dangerous Drugs in Africa

  • In 2000 Pfizer was accused[15] of testing a dangerous new antibiotic called Trovan on children in Nigeria without receiving proper consent from their parents. The experiment occurred during a 1996 meningitis epidemic in the country. In 2001 Pfizer was sued[16] in U.S. federal court by thirty Nigerian families, who accused the company of using their children as human guinea pigs.[17]

In 2006 a panel of Nigerian medical experts concluded[18] that Pfizer had violated international law. In 2009 the company agreed[19] to pay $75 million to settle some of the lawsuits that had been brought in Nigerian courts.The U.S. case was settled[20] in 2011 for an undisclosed amount.

Lying and Digging Dirt on Opponents

Classified U.S. State Department cables made public in 2010 by Wikileaks indicated[21] that Pfizer had hired investigators to dig up dirt on Nigeria’s former attorney general as a way to get leverage in one of the remaining cases. Pfizer had to apologize[22] over the revelation in the cables that it had falsely claimed that the group Doctors Without Borders was also dispensing Trovan during the Nigerian meningitis epidemic.

Bribery

In 1976 Pfizer was one of the many companies that disclosed[23] that it had made questionable payments to foreign government officials. The company said that about $265,000 had been paid to officials in three countries but did not identify them.

In August 2012 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced[24] that it had reached a $45 million settlement with Pfizer to resolve charges that its subsidiaries, especially Wyeth, had bribed overseas doctors and other healthcare professionals to increase foreign sales.

Firing Employees for Raising Safety Concerns

In 2010 a US federal jury awarded[25] $1.37 million to a former Pfizer scientist who claimed she was sickened by a genetically engineered virus at a company lab and was then fired for raising safety concerns.

 

An event carried out

EventLocationDescription
Foster child drug trialsNew York
US		National Institutes of Health and Big Pharma force fed experimental pharmaceuticals to infants, toddlers, children and teenagers in New York and elsewhere in the United States.

 

Related Quotations

PageQuoteAuthorDate
BioNTech“Yes, I would love to get vaccinated too, we just have to see that we follow the legal basics. We will have to produce over 1.3 billion doses of vaccine in the next six months, it is important that there are no staff absences and accordingly we are thinking about finding ways that legally allow us to protect our staff as well. But we have, that is still in the clarification at the moment.”Ugur SahinDecember 2020
COVID-19/Resistance“I have done my bit and been vaccinated because we were told that was the route to protect others and regain our freedoms. Neither was correct. I will not allow my perfectly healthy body to become a cash cow for Pfizer.”Allison Pearson9 December 2021
Dominic Cummings“In March [2020] I started getting calls from various people saying these new mRNA vaccines could well smash the conventional wisdom. [. . .] People like Bill Gates and that kind of network were saying. [. . .] Essentially what happened is, [. . .] there is a network of people, Bill Gates type people, who were saying completely rethink the paradigm of how you do this.. What Bill Gates and people like that were saying to me and others in number 10 was you need to think of this much more like the classic programs of the past. [. . .] the Manhattan Project in WWII, the Apollo program.. But what Bill Gates and people were saying [. . .] was, the actual expected return on this is so high that even if does turn out to be all wasted billions it's still a good gamble [. . .] and that is what we did.”Dominic CummingsMay 2021

 

Employees on Wikispooks

EmployeeJobAppointedEndDescription
Hans GrothSenior Director for Healthcare Policy & Market Access19882012Attended 2011 Bilderberg.
Owen SmithHead of Policy and Government Relations20052010

 

EventDescription
Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationVery influential and rich foundation established to take leadership of global health.

 

Related Document

TitleTypePublication dateAuthor(s)Description
Document:Researcher blows the whistle on data integrity issues in Pfizer’s vaccine trialarticle2 November 2021Paul D ThackerWhistleblowers from a contract research company helping to carry out Pfizer’s pivotal covid-19 vaccine trial say never experienced such a “helter skelter" work environment, saying speed may have come at the cost of data integrity and patient safety.
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References

  1. ↑ "Pfizer moves higher amid persistent breakup talk"
  2. ↑ "Fortune 500 Companies 2018: Who Made the List"
  3. ↑ "Pfizer to buy Allergan in $160 billion deal"
  4. ↑ "Pfizer, Allergan scrap $160 billion deal after U.S. tax rule change"
  5. ↑ "GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer merge healthcare arms"
  6. ↑ http://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0000078003/57afef57-8280-4e7f-9b8c-78bb14852af9.pdf
  7. ↑ https://www.anti-empire.com/pfizer-ceo-sold-62-of-his-stock-on-day-of-vaccine-reveal/
  8. ↑ http://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0000078003/b3aabe38-af36-4936-a888-627803d27cd9.pdf
  9. ↑ "Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech is strongly effective, early data from large trial indicate"
  10. ↑ http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30914F93D5A117B93C1A91783D85F4C8585F9
  11. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/27/us/recall-urged-of-heart-valve-said-to-have-a-serious-defect.html
  12. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/28/us/manufacturer-ends-production-of-heart-valve.html
  13. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/20/business/20drug.html
  14. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/01/business/01drug.html
  15. ↑ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/02/AR2007070201255.html
  16. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/30/business/families-sue-pfizer-on-test-of-antibiotic.html
  17. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jun/05/health.healthandwellbeing1
  18. ↑ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/06/AR2006050601338.html
  19. ↑ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/30/AR2009073001847.html
  20. ↑ http://harvardhumanrights.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/breaking-news-settlement-in-abdullahi-v-pfizer/
  21. ↑ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/11/AR2010121102884.html
  22. ↑ http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/press/release.cfm?id=4941&cat=press-release
  23. ↑ http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0711F83F5F167493C2AB1788D85F428785F9
  24. ↑ http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2012/2012-152.htm
  25. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/business/03pfizer.html
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