Pfizer's Ambitions in the Off-Patent World

The pending purchase of Wyeth will accelerate Pfizer's transformation from a mass marketer of superstar drugs into a diversified supplier of targeted therapies, consumer health, and other health care products. It is a major but incomplete step in the search for new growth drivers as Pfizer's cholesterol drug Lipitor--worth a quarter of the Big Pharma's 2008 revenues--loses exclusivity. The company has also restructured existing operations into six business units, the most intriguing of which is the Established Products Business Unit. That division has pulled together Pfizer's off-patent and branded older products into a $10 billion business, albeit one with declining sales. Its leader, David Simmons has the job of reversing the decline and creating a growth story.