Pfizer to study tropical diseases
Valor Econômico
American multinational Pfizer does not want to be left behind in the segment of vaccines, which is highly profitable in the international market. When it purchased, for US$ 68 billion, the Wyeth laboratory in 2009, the pharmaceutical industry, whose main products are the medicines Lipitor and Viagra, also got ahold of an important slice of the global segment of vaccines, and obtained a market share of 12.3%. In an interview to Valor, Susan Silbermann, President of Pfizer for Latin America and the emerging countries, said Brazil is an important market for the company.
With earnings in Brazil at nearly R$ 3.3 billion (US$ 1.83 billion), Pfizer has three plants in the country, all in São Paulo. With the most recent acquisition, the company does not intend to have another unit in the country, but to increase the current capacity of the existing operations, said Susan. In vaccines, now an important business for Pfizer, Brazil should be a platform for studies on tropical diseases. The focuses will be the development of vaccines to fight of Chagas' disease and malaria. The company should approve a study plan still in this first half of the year in partnership with a university located in Ribeirão Preto (SP). The same should take place for the development of studies on malaria.
The international division of vaccines of the pharmaceutical company is responsible for US$ 3 billion in earnings. Lipitor, a product that fights high cholesterol, is the international leader of the company, with US$ 13 billion in sales a year, followed by Enbrel, a biological medicine indicated for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, and Viagra. The global revenue of the company, including Wyeth, amounts to US$ 71 billion (pro forma). Pfizer already negotiates two vaccines in Brazil, according to Gail Rodgers, Director of vaccines of the company. "Before the acquisition of Wyeth, the company already worked on the development of vaccines, but this segment gained relevance with the acquisition", she said.