Can New CEO at Pfizer Fix Old Problems?
As Ian Read looks to take over as CEO of Pfizer, he is saddled with various complications right from the get-go. Some of the issues that Read will have to deal with include share profits declining, the absolute failures of some of the company's new drugs as well as the patents expiring of two of its most popular drugs: Effexor XR and Lipitor.
Lipitor will lose its patent in late 2011, but Effexor's patent has already expired, which will dry up sales on the drug now that generic versions will be widely available. This could prove to be disastrous for the company since Pfizer's newest drugs can't seem to get off the ground properly after continuous failed attempts to pass clinical testing stages. This has happened to at least 12 of the company's newest drugs.
Analyst Les Funtledeyer of Miller Tabak & Co. certainly didn't agree with Kindler's decision to buy Wyeth, whose controversial Effexor has since caused many lawsuits to be filed against charges that Wyeth hid test data that linked the drug to various life-threatening conditions. Pfizer, in turn, has suffered from the losses of Effexor profits as well as its own best seller Lipitor.
Funtledeyer defends the addition of Read, saying, "One of the knocks on Jeff Kindler was that he really didn't have a lot of pharma experience before coming to Pfizer — that won't be a criticism here." He also states that while Kindler was responsible for some of the company's problems, he wasn't responsible for all of them. With this is mind, perhaps, Read will be able to help dig Pfizer out of its slump. With more than 30 years of knowledge of the company behind him, he certainly knows Pfizer well.
