Pfizer + Pharmacia = #1 drug firm
Drug giant Pfizer (#3 among pharmaceutical companies) today got the FTC go-ahead to merge with Pharmacia (#7). The merged company is now the #1 drug company worldwide, with 11% of all sales. (GlaxoSmithKline is reportedly #2.) The two merged companies have combined income of $46 billion last year, making the new entity the third largest of any kind in the world, based on market capitalization.
Among Pfizer drug brands are Viagra, Zoloft (antidepressant), Norvasc (cardiovascular), Zyrtec (allergies), and Lipitor (cholesterol), each selling more than $1 billion a year. Over-the-counter drugs include allergy medicines Sudafed and Benadryl. Pfizer also sells Dentyne gum, Certs breath mints, Visine eyedrops, Listerine mouthwash, Rolaids antacid tablets, Desetin and Neosporin ointments, and plenty more.
Pfizer has in the past gobbled up Warner-Lambert, Parke-Davis, and Goedecke. The company also has a healthcare IT division called Pfizer Health Solutions. It also has a line of veterinary medicines.
Pharmacia's top prescription drugs are Xanax (anxiety), Celebrex and Bextra (arthritis), Camptosar (colorectal cancer), Zyvox (antibiotic), and Detrol (bladder). The company also makes over-the-counter products such as Rogaine (baldness) and Nicorette (smoking cessation).
The company is the product of the 2000 merger of Pharmacia, Searle/Monsanto, and Upjohn Pharmacia last summer spun off its Monsanto agricultural/chemical subsidiary, getting rid of a business piece unrelated to the pharmaceutical industry.
The pharmaceutical industry still has a number of competitors. There are some ten to twelve companies with a significant portion of the world market, even though considerable mergers have already happened (as the names GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb indicate). But the current move by Pfizer ups the stakes. Industry experts are anticipating a number of new merger announcements as companies try to dominate or, at least, survive.
9:29:40 PM 
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