🠈  Pfizer  🠊

Pfizer

Pfizer is a pharmaceutical conglomerate based in New York that trades on the NYSE with the symbol: PFE. The company has several hundred subsidiaries.

The company began to aggressively acquire companies in 2000. They had a market capitalization of $200 billion when I visited their site in October 2020.

Corporate Timeline

• 1849: German-American Charles Pfizer and Charles F. Erhart founded the chemical firm Charles Pfizer and Company in Brooklyn, NY with a $2,500 loan. Their primary product was an antiparasitic called santonin.
• 1919: Pfizer developed processes for fermenting citric acid in WWI.
• 194?: Pfizer developed process for mass production of penicillin in WWII.
• 1950: Pfizer created the antibiotic Terramycin and changed its focus from chemical production to research. Drugs developed by the firm include Zoloft, Lipitor, Norvasc, Zithromax, Aricept, Diflucan, and Viagra.
• 2000: Pfizer acquired Warner–Lambert for $111.8 billion.
• 2003: Pfizer acquired Pharmacia Upjohn.
  • 1995: Sweden based Pharmacia merged with Michigan based Upjohn.

    History of Upjohn

    Upjohn was a pharmaceutical company which developed a large number of medicines.¹⁰.

    • 1886: Dr. William E. Upjohn (1853 – 1932) of Michigan created Upjohn Company to produce friable pills which were easier to digest.
    • 1905: Upjohn's wife Rachel Phoebe Babcock Upjohn passed away.
    • 1913: Upjohn married his neighbor Carrie Maria Sherwood Gilmore who owned Gilmore Brother's Department Store based in Kalamazoo, Mi.
    • David Gilmore married Genevieve Upjohn (who had become his step-sister). David became head of Gilmore stores
    • 1928: Harold Upjohn passed away unexpectedly. David left Gilmore Brothers and became CEO of Upjohn.
    • After WWII, Upjohn developed methods to mass produce cortisone. Upjohn developed other brands including Xanax, Halcion, Motrin, Lincocin, and Rogaine.
• 2003: Pfizer acquired Esperion Therapeutics for $1.3 billion.
• 2004: Pfizer acquired Meridica for $125 million.
• 2005: Pfizer acquired Vicuron Pharmaceuticals for $1.9 billion.
• 2005: Pfizer acquired Idun for about $300 million.
• 2005: Pfizer acquired Angiosyn for $527 million.
• 2006: Johnson & Johnson acquired Pfizer's Consumer Healthcare unit for $16.6 billion.
• 2008: Pfizer sold Experion.
• 2009: Pfizer acquired Wyeth.

  Wyeth was founded as American Home Products. The company changed its name to "Wyeth" in 2002. The name change complicates efforts to research the company's history. I used Fundinging Universe, Encyclopedia.com and Wikipedia to create the base for this section.^2,3,4.

History of American Home Products

AHP began as a holding company for popular consumer brands and pharmaceuticals. It acquired Wyeth and later changed its name to Wyeth. I could not find information on the formation of Boyle-Midway. Justia lists patents from the firm.

• 1926: Investors created American Home Products to consolidate the product lines of Sterling Products Inc. and Household Products Inc.. The brands included .
  • Hill's Cascara Quinine,
  • St. Jacob's Oil,
  • Wyeth's Sage and Sulphur,
  • Kolynos dental cream,
  • and Old English No Rubbing Floor Polish.
• 1927: Boyle-Midway received trademark for Fly Ded.
• 1929: Boyle-Midway patented Ridz.
• 1930: AHP acquired Anacin.
1916: William Milton Knight developed Anacin.
• 1932: AHP acquired Wyeth Chemical Company from Harvard University

  History of Wyeth

  • 1860: John and Frank Wyeth created the firm John Wyeth and Brother which had a drugstore and research lab.
  • 1864: Wyeth provided beef extract to the Union Army during the Civil War.
  • 1872: Henry Bowers, employed by Wyeth, developed a rotary compressed tablet machine to mass produce medicine.
  • 1907: Stuart became CEO after his father's passing. The company moved its headquarters to Manhattan, NY.
  • 1929: Stuart deeded controlling interest of Wyeth to Harvard on his passing.
  • 1932: AHP bought a brand of sunburn cream that it turned into Preparation H.
  • 1938: AHP acquired Eff Laboratories which made vitamin products.⁴
  • 1938: AHP acquired S.M.A. Corporation which made vitamins and infant products.⁴
  • 1938: Boyle-Midway patented Aerowax.
  • 1939: AHP acquired Black Flag Company which makes insectices.⁴
  • 1943: AHP acquired G. Washington Coffee Refining Company
    • 1909: George Constant Louis began selling an instant coffee product.
  • 1943, AHP merged with Ayerst, McKenna and Harrison, Ltd. of Canada which makes a conjugated estrogen medicine called Premarin.
  • 1945: AHP acquired the Fort Dodge Serum Company which created products for animal health.
  • 1946: AHP acquired Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee Quality Foods Inc. which makes a canned spaghetti product.

    History of Chef Boy-Ar-Di

    • 1924: Hector Boiardi opened a restaurant called Il Giardino d'Italia in Cleveland, Oh. Custumoers requested the sauce which he sold in milk jars.
    • 1924: Boiardi opened a factory in Milton, Pa. He spelled the brand "Boy-Ar-Di" so that people would pronounce the name correctly.
    • The company ran 24 hours a day to make rations during WWII.
    • 1946: Boy-Ar-Di sold the firm to avoid laying off workers after the war.
  • 1947: Boyle-Midway filed trademarks for Plastic Wood and Allwhite
  • 1958: AHP acquired Hannibal Pharmaceuticals which owned a brand of hair removal products called "Neet" in American and "Veet" in Europe
    • 1919: Hannibal received a Canadian patent for Neet.
  • 1951: AHP launched Antabuse to treat alcholism.
  • 1951: Woolite introduced.
  • 1951: AHP launched the antihistamine Phenergan.
  • 1953: AHP launched the high blood pressure medicine Ansolyen.
  • 1954: AHP launched the anticonvulsant Mysoline.
  • 1966: Boyle-Midland filed trademark for Red Devil drain cleaning product and Easy-Off fabric cleaning.
  • 1966: AHP acquired Brach's which made candy
    • 1904: Emil J. Brach opened his candy store on the corner of North Avenue and Towne Street in Chicago, Il.
    • 1980: Betram Johnson acquired Brach's for $730 million.
  • 1967: AHP developed a delivery system for the World Health Organization to help irradicate polio.
  • 1967: FTC ordered AHP to stop making false advertising claims.
  • 1971: AHP acquired Gibraltar Industries which made PAM cooking spray
    • 1961: Leon Rubin and Arthur Meyerhoff created company to sell a spray cooking oil with the acronym PAM for "Product of Arthur Meyerhoff"
  • 1973: AHP acquired Slaymaker Locks.

    Slaymaker History

    Slaymaker was a brand of locks. The brand diminished under control of AHP.⁴

    • 1888: Samuel R. Slaymaker and John F. Barry founded Slaymaker, Barry and Company in Connellsville, Pennsylvania.
    • 1889: Their factory burned down.
    • 1899: Slaymaker began manufacturing steam powered automobiles.
    • 1900: The company spun off its automotive division as Baldwin Automobile Manufacturing Company which failed in 1901.
    • 1904: Slaymaker bought the T. Slaight lock company.
    • 1907: Slaymker reorganized as Slaymaker Lock Manufacturing Co..
    • 1917: Slaymaker acquired Dayton Manufacturing.
    • 1921: W.E Fraim acquired majority share in the company and it as Fraim-Slaymaker Hardware Co..
    • 1930: S.R. Slaymaker regained control and rebranded company as Slaymaker Lock Co..
    • 1973: AHP acquired Slaymaker. It became part of the Ekco Housewares.
    • 1986: AHP closed its lock manufacturing plant.
  • 1978: Federal judge ordered AHP to terminate false advertising.
  • 1981: FTC ordered AHP to cease making misleading advertising claims.
  • 1983: AHP acquired Sherwood Medical Group for $425m. They made medical devices.
  • 198?: AHP acquired animal health divison of Bristol-Myers and Parke-Davis.²
  • 1983: AHP launched a non-prescription strength ibuprofen called Advil.
  • 1986-1989: AHP bought assets of A.H. Robins brands included Chapstick, Reglan, Robitussin, ChapStick, and Dimetapp

    History of A.H. Robins

    A.H. Robins was a conglomerate that owned pharmaceutical and consumer brands. They bought Dalkon Shield and fell into bankruptcy due to lawsuits resulting from the product.

    • 1866: Albert Hartley Robins opened A. H. Robins Apothecary in Richmond, Va.
    • 1929: The family closed the apothecary due to Albert's failing health.
    • 1933: Edwin Claiborne Robins, Sr. (1910–1995) took over the family firm and expanded it as A.H. Robins Company.
    • 1949: Robins introduced Robitussin (an antitussive-expectorant) Pabalate (an antirheumatic) and Entozyme a digestant.
    • 1953: Robins opened its first manufacturing plant.
    • 1963: Robins acquired ChapStick:
      • 188?: Charles Browne Fleet (a physician in Lynchburg, Va) invented a lip balm.
      • 1912: John Morton bought the rights to produce ChapStick for $5.00
      • 1959: A.H. Robins received a trademark for Dimetapp.⁸
      • 1963: A.H. Robins bought the brand and added flavors and made a ChapStick sun lotion.
      • 1985: ChapStick started selling petroleum jelly.
      • 2011: Fareva Richmond acquired ChapStick from Pfizer
    • 1970: Robins acquired the rights to Dalkon Shield from Hugh J. Davis, M.D..
    • 1972: Robins had a heart attack and family started withdrawing interest in firm.
    • 1974: FDA recommended that Robins remove Dalkon Shield from market.
    • 197?: Claimants filed over 300,000 lawsuits agains A.H. Robins.
  • 1989: Boyle-Midland receive trademark for Black Flag Roach Hotel.⁷
  • 1990: Reckitt & Colman acquired the Boyle-Midway division of AHP which included Wizard air freshener, Easy-Off oven spray, and Woolite.
  • 1992: AHP bought a majority stake in Genetics Institute.
  • 1993: AHP acquired M. Polaner which makes jam from the Dutch conglomerate Artal Group.
  • 1994: AHP acquired American Cyanamid
  • 1995: AHP acquired the animal health division of Solvay.
  • 1995: AHP sold its oral-care product line.
  • 1996: AHP spun off its food division as International Home Foods. Division included Chef Boy-Ar-Dee, PAM,
    • 2000: Conagra acquired International Home Foods for $2.9 billion.
  • 1996: AHP completed purchase of Genetics Institute.
  • 1997: AHP lost $16 billion in lawsuits and withdrew its diet drugs Pondimin and Redux (Fenfluramine plus phentermine creates an addictive substance known as Fen-phen)
  • 1997: AHP sold its ophthalmic business.
  • 1997: Tyco-Kendal acquired AHP's medical device division.
  • 1998: SmithKline Beecham and AHP explored a $70 billion merger.
  • 2000: AHP sold its agricultural chemicals business.
  • 2000: AHP lost a $65 billion bid for Warner-Lambert to Pfizer.
  • 2001: AHP traded its interests in Immunex for interest in the biotech firm Amgen.
  • 2002: AHP changed its name to Wyeth.
  • 2005: Wyeth filed a "citizens' complaint" against compound pharmcies that offered "Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy" which competed against some of its drugs.
• 2010: Pfizer acquired King Pharmaceuticals for $3.6 billion.
• 2012: Pfizer sold its baby food division to Nestle for $11.85 billion.
• 2013: Pfizer sold 86.1 million shares of Zoetis (NYSE: ZTS) for US$2.2 billion.
• 2014: Pfizer acquired Innopharma for $225 million.
• 2014: Pfizer attempted to acquired AstraZeneca for $118 billion. The deal fell apart over legal issues.
• 2015: Pfizer acquired controlling interest in Redvax .
• 2015: Pfizer acquired Hospira for $15.2 billion.
• 2015-16: Pfizer attempted a reverse merger with Allergan, Plc that would relocated Pfizer in Ireland and reduce taxes. The merger was blocked by laws restricting reverse mergers.
• 2015: Pfizer revived the Upjohn brand for generic medicines.
• 2016: Pfizer acquired Anacor Pharmaceuticals for $5.2 billion.
• 2016: Pfizer won bid for BIND Therapeutics, which was in bankruptcy, for $40 million.
• 2016: Pfizer acquired Bamboo Therapeutics for $645 million.
• 2016: Pfizer acquired Medivation for $14 billion.
• 2016: Pfizer bought the antibiotic division of AstraZeneca for $1.5 billion.
• 2019-20: Pfizer merged Upjohn and Mylan which they spun off as Viatri.

profile page

References:

1. Wikipedia - Pfizer (Drawn 7/9/2019)
2. Funding Universe - American Home Products (Drawn 10/5/2020)
3. Wikipedia - Wyeth (Drawn 10/5/2020)
4. Encyclopedia.com - AHP (Drawn 10/5/2020)
5. Wikipedia - Slaymaker Lock Company (Drawn 10/6/2020)
6. Wikipedia - Brach's (Drawn 10/6/2020)
7. Wikitree - Robins (Drawn 10/6/2020)
8. Justia - Boyle Midway trademarks (Drawn 10/6/2020)
9. Justia Trademark - Dimetapp (Drawn 10/6/2020)
10. Wikipedia - Upjohn (Drawn 11/28/2022)

Prev ~ ~ Index ~ ~ Next