Pfizer: SWOT and Financial Analysis - Essay Example

d). Pfizer has an effective supply chain to reach even the remote corners of the world. They are spending large amount of money on research and development which helped them to develop new medical products to assist healthcare professionals and patients. Another major strength of Pfizer is its outstanding performances in the recent recession hit years (More about Pfizer’s financial performances were described under the Financial section later in this paper) Weaknesses The major weakness of Pfizer is various kinds of law suits filed against them regarding the promotion of illegal drugs.

Lozano (2004) has mentioned a lawsuit filed against Pfizer, the world’s largest drug maker, for illegally promoting Neurontin for non-approved uses, by two Florida residents who were prescribed the epilepsy drug Neurontin for so-called “off-label” uses (Lozano 2004). According to Bob Van Voris and Janelle Lawrence (2010) “Pfizer engaged in a racketeering conspiracy of marketing Neurontin over a 10-year period (Voris and Lawrence, 2010). In other words, reputations of Pfizer as a socially committed company are very weak.

They are more focussed on making profits rather than working for the wellbeing of the society which is a major weakness. Pfizer is allegedly promoting medicines which are not approved by FDA. They are promoting medicines which are unintended for a particular disease. . It is easy for Pfizer to establish subsidiary units in any parts of the world at present because of the liberalization policies adopted by majority of the countries. Pfizer can use merger and acquisition or licensing strategies to expand its business in other parts of the world because of globalization.

The development of new drugs like Viagra has offered numerous opportunities to Pfizer not only in America, but also in other parts of the world. Threats Patent loses is the major threats for Pfizer. Blockbusters like Lipitor, Effexor, and Viagra all are going to lose its exclusivity within the next three years. “Pfizer is facing considerable exposure to general competition, focal point of which is Lipitor, due to loss patent exclusivity in 2011” (Pfizer: Swot analysis, n. d). Moreover, Pfizer forced to pay huge amounts as compensation to settle law suits against them and the financial strengths of Pfizer were weakened.

Competitors are exploiting the weaknesses of Pfizer in order to spoil Pfizer’s reputation in American and overseas markets. They are citing numerous law suits against Pfizer as examples to prove Pfizer as a socially uncommitted company. The government alleged that Pfizer boosted sales for Neurontin through non-approved uses by flying doctors to lavish resorts, paying them kickbacks as consultants’ and speakers’ fees for unapproved uses, and fired salespeople if they didn’t recruit enough doctors to prescribe Neurontin for pain (Lozano, 2004).

In short, some of the recent laws suits and allegations are causing big threats to Pfizer’s reputations as a socially committed company. It should be noted that current consumers are giving more importance to socially committed companies while taking