"[Pfizer's research] employees worldwide - along with patients awaiting breakthroughs in therapeutic areas that have been deemed commercially unpromising such as urology, allergies and respiratory ailments - are the losers in a reshuffling of priorities by the world’s largest drugmaker," reported the Financial Times (here).
Pfizer's incoming chief Ian Read plans to continue along the shareholder-pleasing path established by Jeff Kindler, the company's outgoing CEO.
During the past 5 years, "Pfizer returned about $45bn in cash to shareholders while continuing headcount-shredding mergers, most recently with Wyeth," said FT. "Now it will cut an additional $2bn from planned research and development spending to return the savings, and then some, to owners. Already having one of the highest dividend yields in the S&P 500, Pfizer will add $5bn to an existing $4bn share buy-back plan. The move pleased Mr Read’s most important constituency - shares rallied after the announcement."
In light of this, I suggest that Pfizer's new corporate slogan should be: "Working Together for a Healthier Investor™". But that wouldn't sound so good coming from @Pfizer_news, Pfizer's TwitterMeisters, who claim that Pfizer applies "science and our global resources to improve health and well-being at every stage of life." These days it's less about science and more about [financial] resources that power Pfizer.
Illegitimi non carborundum
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