We’re in relentless pursuit of scientific breakthroughs and revolutionary medicines that will create a healthier world for everyone. So much has changed since we were founded in 1849. But not our commitment to finding innovations that help people.
Pfizer is committed to providing shareholders, potential investors, and the public with a transparent view of our efforts toward fulfilling our purpose: Breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. To that end, our annual reports detail the strategic development, operations, and financial condition of our business.
Know the Difference
When a new medicine is released, it’s patented and sold under a brand name. When that patent expires, generic versions of the drug may be sold by other companies. These differ in minor ways from the branded version but must have similar efficacy.
What is the Difference?
Branded drugs are more expensive because they’re newer, generally groundbreaking, and often for conditions that are difficult to treat. However, after a certain period of time, these same innovative medicines become generic medicines.
How is Pfizer different?
The difference between our approach and that of many other companies is that when medicine becomes generic, we still assume responsibility. Rather than focus on just what’s in development, we continue to closely monitor the quality, safety, and reliability of our generic medicines.
Biologic Medicines
Biologics are medicines that have been developed from naturally occurring systems, including humans, animals, or microorganisms. Their complexity enables them to be used to treat a variety of conditions for which no other treatments are available.
Why Are Biologics Important?
While most drugs have a known structure and so can be chemically synthesized, biologics are derived from existing natural systems. This gives them a larger, more complex structure. As a result, the treatments derived from them are more challenging to produce.
But the effort has paid off.
Biologics are helping to advance patient care by delivering highly effective and targeted treatment across multiple life-threatening and chronic diseases—for conditions where patients have had few effective options.
Approved by the FDA, biologics are now used in the fields of oncology, inflammation and immunology, rheumatology, gastroenterology, diabetes, neurology, and inherited conditions.
What is a Biosimilar?
Biosimilars are medicines specifically designed to have similar properties to a drug that’s already been created and licensed.
Since biosimilars are never exact copies of the medicine they’re designed to imitate, their safety and effectiveness must be independently established. Regulatory guidance for biosimilars has been developed in Europe, the United States, and many countries throughout the world. To meet these standards scientists, gather widespread evidence, work together with limited nonclinical studies, and collect detailed comparative human pharmacokinetics and efficacy in a relevant patient population.
This “totality of evidence” helps ensure that patients receive quality products that are both safe and effective.
Commitment To Quality
People are depending on us for their health. Every dose of the medicines we produce must be made to the highest standards. To achieve this, each one of us at Pfizer is accountable for ensuring product quality, and user safety.
A fundamental element of our Company’s Purpose and Mission is a commitment to the delivery of safe and effective products to patients and consumers.
To meet this commitment, we maintain a quality-focused culture to ensure the highest priority is placed on:
- The safety, efficacy, and reliability of our products
- The safety of our patients and consumers
- The quality of data supporting regulatory submissions
- Interactions with our stakeholders
Our leaders are committed to maintaining a culture of excellence with appropriate systems and processes in place to drive quality-focused behaviors. We work to ensure that decision-making is based on what is best for product quality, patient and consumer safety, and the protection of our reputation and business.
We Follow Diversity
Everyone has something to offer. Diverse teams are more collaborative, more accepting of different perspectives, and more representative of the world we all share.