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Pfizer

Website:

www.pfizer.com/
Location:

New York, NY
Formation:

1849
Chief Executive Officer:

Albert Bourla
Type:

Pharmaceutical Company

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Pfizer is a major U.S.-based pharmaceutical company that, by 2024, was considered the largest pharmaceutical company in the world by sales totaling $62.4 billion.1

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pfizer was the first company to produce a vaccine to protect against COVID-19 infection, leading to a tremendous increase in sales to both private and government customers. 2 3

Background

Pfizer was established in 1849 in New York City as “Charles Pfizer & Company” by German cousin immigrants Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart. The company initially produced chemicals for medical and manufacturing purposes.4 5

In 1901, Pfizer reincorporated in New Jersey. In 1906, Emile Pfizer became the company’s president. He retired in 1941, making him the last member of the Pfizer family to be involved in the company’s management. In 1942, Pfizer reincorporated in Delaware. During World War II, the company was a key supplier of penicillin to the U.S. government. By 1944, Pfizer was the world’s largest producer of penicillin. In 1950, Pfizer began selling the antibiotic Terramycin, the first novel drug developed by the company.4 5

In 1951, Pfizer began expanding sales, offices, and manufacturing plants outside the United States, with facilities established in Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Panama. In 1971, Pfizer acquired Mack Illertissen, a German chemical company. In 1983, Pfizer acquired Taito, a Japanese pharmaceutical company. In 1972, the company first exceeded $1 billion in annual sales. In 1980, Pfizer’s Feldene, an anti-inflammatory medication, becomes the company’s first drug to pass $1 billion in sales. In 1998, Pfizer began selling Viagra, its proprietary male sexual dysfunction drug. In 1999, Forbes named Pfizer the company of the year.4 5

In the 2000s, Pfizer rapidly expanded through mergers and acquisitions. In 2000, the company attempted to acquire pharmaceutical company Warner-Lambert, but was initially blocked on anti-trust grounds by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), particularly for monopolizing the production of antidepressant drugs in the U.S. Eventually, Pfizer bought Warner-Lambert for $110 billion after agreeing to numerous provisions set by the FTC, including divesting portions of Pfizer and Warner-Lambert.4 5 6

In 2003, Pfizer acquired Pharmacia for $60 billion. In 2009, Pfizer acquired Wyeth, a pharmaceutical company that focused on vaccines, for $68 billion, making Pfizer the largest pharmaceutical company in the world. From 2014 to 2021, Pfizer acquired Innopharma, Redvax, Hospira, Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Therachon, and Amplyx Pharmaceuticals.4 5 6 7

COVID-19 Pandemic

In August 2021, Pfizer’s Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine became the first COVID-19 vaccine to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) while using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. It was estimated that the vaccine brought in nearly $38 billion in revenue for Pfizer within a single year.2 3

Unique among major American pharmaceutical companies including Johnson and Johnson, Novavax, and Moderna, Pfizer did not seek funding from the U.S. government for its vaccine development program. However, Pfizer did receive $445 million in grant support from the German government provided to the company’s vaccine development partner, the Germany-based BioNTech. Pfizer also received U.S. government “logistical support” for the distribution of the vaccine.3

In July 2022, Kaiser Health News published an article stating that Pfizer had “won the pandemic, reaping outsize profit and influence” due to its successful production of a vaccine, high production levels, and global sales.2

By 2022, the U.S. government had purchased 900 million Pfizer vaccine doses, with 500 million distributed to low-income countries and another 700 million vaccines as optional purchases. Due to the rapid development of the vaccine and strong demand for it, Pfizer’s contract with the U.S. government included clauses such as denying the government intellectual property rights to the vaccine and including a public acknowledgement from the government that the vaccine was developed without the federal government’s assistance.3

In 2021, Pfizer’s revenue was $81.3 billion, double its 2020 revenue. In 2022, Pfizer’s revenue rose to $101 billion before falling to $60 billion in 2023 and $64 billion in 2024.2 8

In August 2025, second Trump administration U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced that the department was cutting funding to 22 mRNA vaccine development programs worth $500 million over alleged health concerns. Beneficiaries of the cancelled programs included Pfizer and Sanofi.9

Announcement Timing Controversy

On November 9, 2020, nine days after the 2020 presidential election, Pfizer published clinical trial results for its COVID-19 vaccine. The company was accused by critics of  purposefully delaying the results until after the election. In November 2024, following then-former President Donald Trump’s second election, British drugmaker GSK gave a tip to federal prosecutors in New York alleging that Pfizer had delayed its clinical trial publication for political purposes. In 2025, the Republican-led U.S. House Judiciary Committee began investigating Pfizer and the allegations. After an invitation to testify before the committee was turned down by Pfizer former global head of vaccine research Philip Dormitzer, he was subpoenaed in June of that year.10 11

Alleged Vaccine Misrepresentation

In 2024, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach (R) filed a lawsuit against Pfizer for allegedly “misleading the public by claiming its vaccine was safe and effective despite not studying its impact on virus transmission.”12  According to the lawsuit, Kobach claimed Pfizer withheld evidence that the vaccine was linked to negative side effects such as pregnancy complications, myocarditis, and pericarditis.13

In 2023, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced a lawsuit against Pfizer for allegedly “unlawfully misrepresenting the effectiveness of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine and attempting to censor public discussion of the product.”14 As of January 2025, the lawsuit was ongoing.15

Pfizergate

In early 2021, due to supply issues with British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, the European Commission began negotiating with Pfizer to purchase COVID-19 vaccines. The deal was for Pfizer to provide 900 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine for €35 billion (approximately $41 billion at 2025 exchange rates), with an additional 900 million doses available for purchase. However, shortly before the deal was finalized, it was reported that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had personally negotiated the deal via text messages with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, with the resulting scandal being dubbed “Pfizergate,” Later, Von der Leyen deleted the texts and refused to publicly disclose them despite requests while the European Commission was later sued by the New York Times under transparency laws. In May 2025, the European Union General Court ruled against the Commission, but the texts had still not been recovered or published at that time.16

Sales Tactics

According to a 2021 report by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Pfizer engaged in “high-level bullying” of the governments of Argentina and Brazil to extract better terms in its COVID-19 vaccine sales. Government officials alleged that Pfizer demanded the governments “put up federal bank reserves, embassy buildings or military bases as a guarantee against the cost of future legal cases stemming from unlikely adverse effects,” and that Pfizer salesmen employed aggressive sales tactics by alleging, “Why are you only buying this number of doses? People will die because of you, you should buy more.”17

Advocacy and Politics

Trade Associations

Pfizer is a member of several trade associations that engage in political lobbying, the largest of which is the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).18

As of August 2025, Pfizer is one of 31 members of PhRMA, a trade association representing large pharmaceutical companies, and one of the largest lobbying groups in the United States, having spent over half a billion dollars on lobbying between 1998 and 2025. PhRMA opposes government “negotiated” drug prices, opposes regulatory support for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and has advocated for more streamlined drug approval processes at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).19 20

Other trade associations to which Pfizer belongs include the Alliance for Aging Research, the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, the Alliance to Modernize Prescribing Information, the Business Roundtable, the Healthcare Leadership Council, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Health Council, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In 2024, these trade associations the trade associations affiliated with Pfizer spent almost $4.5 billion on lobbying using member dues.18

Lobbying

In addition to lobbying through PhRMA and other trade associations, Pfizer engages in its own lobbying. From 2006 to 2024, Pfizer spent between $9.1 million and $14.4 million annually on lobbying, except in 2009, when the company spent almost $26 million amid the development of Obamacare.21

Political Donations

Pfizer runs its own political action committee, Pfizer PAC. Between 2004 and 2024, Pfizer PAC has spent between $2.1 million and $3.7 million on political donations during each two-year political cycle. During the 2024 election cycle, Pfizer PAC raised almost $2 million and spent $2.1 million.22 23  During the 2020 election cycle, Pfizer spent $3.5 million on political donations.2

References

  1. Malone, Eleanor. “Top 12 Pharma Companies: Pfizer Tops the Leaderboard Again.” Citeline. March 28, 2025. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://www.citeline.com/en/resources/scrip-top-12-pharma-companies.
  2. Allen, Arthur. “How Pfizer won the pandemic, reaping outsize profit and influence.” CT Mirror. July 10, 2022. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://ctmirror.org/2022/07/10/how-pfizer-won-the-pandemic-reaping-outsize-profit-and-influence/.
  3. Satija, Bhanvi; Erman, Michael. “Pfizer shows profit growth from cost cuts and steadier COVID sales.” Reuters. February 4, 2025. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizer-beats-fourth-quarter-profit-estimates-cost-cutting-efforts-2025-02-04/.
  4. “History.” Pfizer. Accessed August 20, 2025. https://www.pfizer.com/about/history.
  5. “Pfizer Inc.” Britannica. Accessed August 20, 2025. https://www.britannica.com/money/Pfizer-Inc.
  6. “Pfizer Quarterly Report.” SEC. Accessed August 20, 2025. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/78003/000007800303000276/q3-03pfe1.htm?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
  7. “Pfizer To Swallow Wyeth’s Good Medicine.” Forbes. January 26, 2009. Accessed August 20, 2025. https://www.forbes.com/2009/01/26/pfizer-wyeth-pharmaceuticals-markets-equity-cx_lal_0126markets12.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
  8. “Pfizer Revenue 2010-2025 | PFE.” Macrotrends. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/PFE/pfizer/revenue.
  9. Kartal Allen, Annabel. “RFK Jr’s mRNA funding halt signals “shift in US public health.” August 7, 2025. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rfk-jr-mrna-funding-halt-113454062.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAEp-0tzeXBuqcbqE3-QsEYpHcIEogRkFYTUFSj3VzDhFwPShxkRYUmPHBAWYSZudd6s3hbLz71_Da_HR7tHX_rS217vSHT7i019ysdjy07wITqylllWdDxcDUDywlhnujzXNDWcUeBHcJVMQ2eqGKz-jScY5Bul23Zhu3s9vYLA-.
  10. “US House committee subpoenas former Pfizer executive over alleged COVID vaccine delay.” Reuters. June 30, 2025. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/house-committee-subpoenas-pfizer-executive-probe-alleged-covid-vaccine-delay-cnn-2025-06-30/.
  11. Becker, Zoey. “House lawmakers probe claim Pfizer delayed COVID vaccine data until after 2020 election.” Fierce Pharma. May 16, 2025. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/house-committee-takes-over-probe-gsk-tip-allegations-pfizer-execs-may-have-conspired.
  12. Kumar, Abhijeet. “US’ Kansas sues Pfizer for hiding Covid vaccine risks, making false claims.” Business Standard. June 18, 2024. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/us-kansas-sues-pfizer-for-hiding-covid-vaccine-risks-making-false-claims-124061800708_1.html. 
  13. Kumar, Abhijeet. “US’ Kansas sues Pfizer for hiding Covid vaccine risks, making false claims.” Business Standard. June 18, 2024. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/us-kansas-sues-pfizer-for-hiding-covid-vaccine-risks-making-false-claims-124061800708_1.html.  
  14. “Attor­ney Gen­er­al Ken Pax­ton Sues Pfiz­er for Mis­rep­re­sent­ing COVID-19 Vac­cine Effi­ca­cy and Con­spir­ing to Cen­sor Pub­lic Discourse.” Ken Paxton Attorney General of Texas. November 30, 2023. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-sues-pfizer-misrepresenting-covid-19-vaccine-efficacy-and-conspiring.
  15. “Attor­ney Gen­er­al Ken Pax­ton Con­tin­ues Law­suit Against Pfiz­er for Know­ing­ly Mis­rep­re­sent­ing the Effi­ca­cy of the COVID-19 Vaccine.” Ken Paxton Attorney General of Texas. January 8, 2025. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-continues-lawsuit-against-pfizer-knowingly-misrepresenting-efficacy.
  16. Braun, Elisa. “Pfizergate: Will we ever see von der Leyen’s texts? ― and other burning questions.” POLITICO. May 14, 2025. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://www.politico.eu/article/pfizergate-ursula-von-der-leyen-eu-commission-pfizer-albert-bourla-covid-19/.
  17. “Investigation: Drugmaker ‘bullied’ Latin American nations.” Al Jazeera. March 11, 2021. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/11/investigation-pfizer-bullied-latin-american-nations.
  18. “Political Partnership.” Pfizer. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://www.pfizer.com/about/programs-policies/political-partnerships.
  19. “About.” PhRMA. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://www.phrma.org/about.
  20. “Top Spenders.” Open Secrets. Accessed June 26, 2025. https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/top-spenders?cycle=a.
  21. “Pfizer Inc.” Open Secrets. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/pfizer-inc/lobbying?id=D000000138.
  22. “Pfizer Political Action Committee and Political Contributions Report.” Pfizer. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://www.pfizer.com/about/programs-policies/political-partnerships/political_action_committee_report.
  23. “PAC Profile: Pfizer Inc.” Open Secrets. Accessed August 7, 2025. https://www.opensecrets.org/spending-section.
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