Pfizer

Lore & Background

Pfizer began as a manufacturer of chemical compounds, with its first successful product being an antiparasitic called santonin. The company’s early growth was driven by the production of citric acid during the 1880s. During World War I, a shortage of calcium citrate, which Pfizer had imported from Italy for citric acid production, forced the company to find an alternative. This led to the development of a fermentation process using a fungus that could convert sugar into citric acid, a technology that Pfizer successfully commercialized by 1919. This expertise in fermentation later proved critical during World War II, when Pfizer applied deep-submergence fermentation techniques to mass-produce penicillin for treating wounded Allied soldiers. The company also undertook a global soil collection program, gathering 135,000 samples to improve penicillin yields. After the war, falling penicillin prices prompted Pfizer to search for more profitable antibiotics, leading to the discovery of oxytetracycline in 1950, which transformed the firm from a fine chemicals maker into a research-based pharmaceutical company. Pfizer later established an animal health division with a research farm in Indiana. The company’s first product to reach $1 billion in revenue was the anti-inflammatory Feldene, launched in 1980. In the 1970s and 1980s, as its Brooklyn plant neighborhood declined, Pfizer partnered with New York City to build housing and a charter school. Notable later products include the heart medication Viagra, originally developed for high blood pressure and angina, and the antibiotic Zithromax, acquired from Pliva.

Reader's Guide

Pfizer’s significance is rooted in its evolution from a 19th-century chemical firm into a major research-driven pharmaceutical company. This shift was catalyzed by the 1950 discovery of oxytetracycline, which moved the company beyond fine chemicals into drug discovery. Over time, Pfizer developed blockbuster medications including Viagra, Zoloft, and Lipitor, and its COVID-19 vaccine, Comirnaty, became a leading product. The company’s behavior reflects a pattern of strategic adaptation: during World War I, a shortage of calcium citrate for citric acid production drove Pfizer to develop fermentation expertise, later applied to mass-produce penicillin during World War II. Ecologically, Pfizer’s global soil collection program—yielding 135,000 samples—aimed to improve penicillin yields. Its public-private partnership in Brooklyn during the 1970s and 1980s addressed urban decline by building housing and a charter school. The company’s field is defined by its focus on immunology, oncology, cardiology, endocrinology, and neurology, with major 2025 revenues from Eliquis, Prevnar, Paxlovid, Vyndaqel, Comirnaty, and Ibrance. Pfizer ranks fifth among biomedical companies by revenue, 69th on the Fortune 500, and 73rd on the Forbes Global 2000, with 59% of revenue from the United States.

Did You Know?

• Pfizer's first product was the antiparasitic santonin.
• Pfizer developed the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty in partnership with BioNTech.