Blockbusters and spin-offs
Pfizer manufactured some of the best-selling pharmaceutical products worldwide. Lipitor was Pfizer’s top drug for many years, but lost its patent in May 2012. Thus, Lipitor’s revenue decreased from around 10 billion U.S. dollars in 2011 to some 1.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2016. Other well-known drugs produced by Pfizer are Lyrica and Viagra. Due to the spin-off of Pfizer's generics business Upjohn during 2020, these drugs are now owned and manufactured by Viatris (formed in late 2020 by the merger of Mylan with Upjohn). Until 2013, Pfizer also had a notable animal health product line.R&D spending record during the pandemic
As is common practice in the pharmaceutical industry, Pfizer spends a substantial part of its revenue on research and development. In 2022, the company’s R&D expenditure stood at a record-high of 11.4 billion U.S. dollars, or around 11 percent of its total revenue. Pfizer has been among the companies with the highest number of products in the R&D pipeline to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. With some 83 thousand employees in 2022, Pfizer is also a significant employer all over the world.
