Pfizer

In 1849, cousins Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart founded Charles Pfizer & Company in Brooklyn, New York. In 1942, 240,000 shares of new common stock were offered to the public. In 1944 Pfizer succeeded in mass-producing penicillin, and in 1950 it introduced Terramycin (oxytetracycline), a broad-spectrum antibiotic.⁠[1]

The present listed company, Pfizer Inc., was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware on June 2, 1942.⁠[2]

Warner-Lambert traced its history to the drug store William R. Warner opened in Philadelphia in 1856, while Jordan Wheat Lambert separately founded Lambert Pharmacal in St. Louis. Parke-Davis, dating to 1866, was acquired by Warner-Lambert in 1970, and Lipitor was introduced in 1997. Pfizer acquired Warner-Lambert in 2000, in a transaction completed in June of that year.⁠[3]

On April 16, 2003, Pfizer and Pharmacia Corporation combined operations.⁠[1]

Under a merger agreement dated January 25, 2009, Pfizer completed its acquisition of Wyeth on October 15, 2009. Each Wyeth share was converted into the right to receive $33.00 in cash and 0.985 of a share of Pfizer common stock.⁠[4]

The U.S. Department of Justice announced that Pfizer and its subsidiary Pharmacia & Upjohn Company had agreed to pay $2.3 billion, which the department called the largest health care fraud settlement in its history. Pharmacia & Upjohn agreed to plead guilty to a felony for misbranding the anti-inflammatory drug Bextra, with a total criminal resolution of $1.3 billion. Pfizer had withdrawn Bextra from the market in 2005.⁠[5]

A further $1.0 billion in civil payments covered alleged past off-label promotion of Bextra and of Zyvox, Geodon and Lyrica. Pfizer entered into a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Office of Inspector General and had already taken a related $2.3 billion charge in its fourth-quarter and full-year 2008 results.⁠[6]

On December 5, 2010, Pfizer’s board elected Ian C. Read, 57, then head of the company’s global biopharmaceutical operations, as president, chief executive officer and director, succeeding Jeffrey B. Kindler, who had retired. Kindler had led the company since 2006.⁠[7]

On October 1, 2018, Pfizer announced that chief operating officer Albert BourlaAlbert BourlaAlbert Bourla is a Thessaloniki-born veterinarian turned business executive who joined Pfizer in 1993, became its chief executive in 2019 and also its chairman in 2020. He led Pfizer’s work with BioNTech on the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine and oversaw the acquisitions of Seagen and Metsera.Open the full entry would succeed Ian Read as CEO on January 1, 2019, with Read moving to executive chairman. Read, CEO since 2010, said “now is the right time for a leadership change.”⁠[8]

On November 16, 2020, Pfizer completed the spin-off of its Upjohn business to its shareholders and its combination with Mylan N.V.; the combined company, Viatris Inc., began trading on Nasdaq on November 17. In the all-stock Reverse Morris Trust transaction, Pfizer shareholders received about 57% of Viatris common stock and Mylan shareholders about 43%.⁠[9]

On December 11, 2020, the FDA authorized emergency use of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.⁠[10]

On December 14, 2023, Pfizer completed its acquisition of Seagen for $229 in cash per share, a total enterprise value of approximately $43 billion. Seagen is a biotechnology company that develops and commercializes cancer medicines and a leader in antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology. To address U.S. Federal Trade Commission concerns, Pfizer chose to irrevocably donate its rights to royalties on Bavencio sales.⁠[11]

In September 2025 Pfizer offered nearly $4.9 billion for the obesity drug developer Metsera. Novo Nordisk made a rival bid of up to $9 billion, which prompted a lawsuit from Pfizer, and later raised it to as much as $10 billion. In November 2025 Novo Nordisk left the contest, and Pfizer prevailed with terms of up to $86.25 per share.⁠[12]

On November 13, 2025, Pfizer completed its acquisition of all outstanding Metsera common stock for $65.60 per share in cash plus a contingent value right of up to $20.65 per share tied to three specified clinical and regulatory milestones, an enterprise value of approximately $7.0 billion. Metsera became a wholly owned subsidiary, and its stock ceased trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market after the close that day.⁠[13]

Pfizer’s full-year 2025 revenues were $62.6 billion, a 2% operational decline from the prior year. Net income attributable to Pfizer Inc. common shareholders was $7.771 billion, with GAAP diluted EPS of $1.36 and adjusted diluted EPS of $3.22. Comirnaty revenues were $4.367 billion, down 18%, and Paxlovid revenues were $2.362 billion, down 59%.⁠[14]

On June 18, 2026, Pfizer said chief financial officer Dave Denton would depart on August 15 to return to the consumer goods industry. Cecile Guegan, a senior vice president of finance, was named interim CFO, and the company said it would conduct an internal and external search for a permanent successor.⁠[15]

On August 4, 2026, Pfizer announced second-quarter revenues of $15.0 billion, 1% operational growth year over year, a GAAP loss per share of $0.04 and adjusted diluted EPS of $0.77.⁠[16]