Pfizer Inc. Collection

Founded in 1849 by German cousins Charles Pfizer and Charles F. Erhart, Pfizer Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company. Pfizer Inc. established itself as a producer of chemical compounds during the late 19th century, most notably including the production of citric acid that contributed to the company’s growth in the 1880s. By 1906, sales at the company exceeded $3 million dollars.

In 1919, Pfizer Inc. discovered a fungus that was able to ferment sugar to citric acid. This discovery was then used to address a shortage of calcium citrate, a compound used in the production of citric acid, caused by World War I. The company was then able to commercialize production of citric acid through their fermentation technology, an innovation that also allowed for the mass production of penicillin to treat wounded Allied soldiers during World War II.

After prices for penicillin began to decline after World War II, Pfizer Inc. began to expand their operations into pharmaceutical research. Hoping to develop new antibiotics with greater profit potentials, the company went on to discover the antibiotic oxytetracycline in 1950. Following this discovery, the company officially transitioned from being a fine chemical manufacturer to becoming a research-based pharmaceutical company. Pfizer Inc. then expanded its influence on a global scale, with new offices and headquarters established around the world.

Throughout the 20th century, Pfizer Inc. developed a wide number of lucrative antibiotics and medicines. Starting with the anti-inflammatory medication Feldene (Piroxicam) in 1980, which was the first product developed by the company to reach $1 billion in revenue, the company went on to develop several other well-known pharmaceuticals including Viagra (1989), Zoloft (1991), and Lipitor (1997). Throughout the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the company has continued to grow and expand its reach and influence through multiple acquisitions and expansions. Pfizer Inc. was also a prominent contributor in the development of vaccines and medicines used in the prevention and treatment of global infections during the COVID-19 pandemic starting in March 2020. In response to the pandemic, the company developed the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in 2020 and Paxlovid in 2022.

Sources

Pfizer Inc. Collection, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.