Pfizer

Pfizer Inc., one of the oldest pharmaceutical companies in North America, was founded in 1849 in Brooklyn, New York, by German immigrant cousins Charles Pfizer and Charles F. Erhart. The pair started as fine-chemicals merchants, selling santonin, an antiparasitic, from a small red brick building. They soon pivoted to citric acid production, which became a staple for soft drinks, and during World War II, Pfizer became a leading manufacturer of penicillin, mass-producing the antibiotic for Allied troops. That wartime effort transformed the company from a chemical supplier into a global drugmaker.

Today, Pfizer is headquartered at The Spiral, a striking skyscraper in Manhattan's Hudson Yards. The company develops and manufactures medicines and vaccines across immunology, oncology, cardiology, endocrinology, and neurology. Its top-selling products in 2025 include the blood thinner Eliquis (apixaban, $7.9 billion), the pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar ($6.5 billion), the heart drug Vyndaqel (tafamidis, $6.4 billion), the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty ($4.4 billion), the cancer drug Ibrance (palbociclib, $4.1 billion), and the COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid ($2.4 billion). In 2025, 59% of revenue came from the United States, 5% from China, and 36% from other international markets.

Pfizer ranks fifth among the largest biomedical companies by revenue, 69th on the Fortune 500, and 73rd on the Forbes Global 2000. Its primary competitors include Johnson & Johnson, Roche, Novartis, Merck & Co., AbbVie, and AstraZeneca. The company has faced controversies, including a $2.3 billion settlement in 2009 for illegal marketing of drugs like Bextra, and ongoing criticism over high drug pricing and aggressive patent enforcement. In 2024-2025, Pfizer launched a cost-cutting program to save $4 billion annually, including layoffs, and acquired Seagen for $43 billion to bolster its oncology pipeline. The company also received FDA approval for a new RSV vaccine for older adults and is developing an mRNA-based flu vaccine.[edit]