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General
Electric
Description
When working with electricity, GE Supply feels quite at ohm
with watt industry needs. The company, a unit of mega-manufacturer General
Electric, is a global distributor of electrical, voice, and data products. Its
inventory of products -- from GE and more than 200 other manufacturers --
includes such items as cable and wire, conduits, industrial controls,
electrical distribution equipment, lighting products, motors, and power
conditioning devices. GE Supply also provides ordering and technical support
services. The unit has operations on four continents.
GE Supply operates a hub-and-spoke network, with direct overnight delivery
service to customer in hub-serviced areas. Its National Sales
Center serves as a
centralized contact point for small and medium-size customers, and its Global
Account Management group supports large, multi-location customers.
Pfizer
Description
Pfizer pfabricates pfarmaceuticals pfor quite a pfew inpfirmities. The company
is the world's largest research-based pharmaceuticals firm. Pfizer's
best-known products include erectile dysfunction therapy Viagra, pain
management drug Celebrex (which the firm plans to
continue selling despite news of increased heart risks), antidepressant
Zoloft, and cholesterol-lowering Lipitor. In
addition to prescription drugs, the firm makes OTC remedies, including
sniffle-and-sneeze treatments Benadryl and Sudafed. Pfizer also keeps Fluffy
and Fido in mind with its animal health products, including Revolution (antiparasitic). Subsidiaries in the Pfizer pfamily include Warner-Lambert, Parke-Davis, and Goedecke.
In the wake of revelations that Merck's Vioxx
increased the risk for cardiovascular diseases, Pfizer studied its own COX-2
medication, Celebrex, to look for similar side
effects and announced yes, taking Celebrex does
increase one's risk of heart attack; further studies are planned. Pfizer
didn't pull Celebrex off the market but did pull
ads from television, radio and added a "black box" warning of
possible cardiovascular and gastrointestinal risks. After adding additional
warnings to Bextra, a COX-2 inhibitor that is
similar to Vioxx, informing users of increased
risks for blood clots, stroke, and heart attacks, Pfizer was ordered to cease
sales of the drug by the FDA in April 2005; it also pulled the drug out of
markets in the European Union. The FDA is also investigating claims that
serious vision side effects, including a rare condition known as Naion (nonarteric anterior
ischemic optic neuropathy), are stemming from the use of Viagra.
Pfizer has eight drugs topping a billion dollars in sales in 2005 (down from
10 in 2004), including Lipitor ($12 billion), Norvasc, a therapy for high blood pressure ($4.7
billion), Zoloft ($3.3 billion), Celebrex ($1.7
billion), Zithromax ($2 billion), and Viagra ($1.6
billion). Those eight drugs also account for nearly 60% of the company's
human health segment sales (down from 70% in 2004).
Pfizer's revenues from these establish blockbusters continue to slide due to
one of the pitfalls of the drug game: patent expiration. The company has
warned investors it will probably lose some $14 billion thanks to patent
expirations over the next two years; thanks to patent expirations in 2005,
revenues from Zithromax slipped 40%, Accupril dropped 56%, Neurontin
was down 77%; and Diflulcan, 47%. Additional losses
from the blows to Celebrex and Bextra
didn't help either; this double punch reduced revenues by nearly $6 billion.
The druggernaut is confident that by 2007 it will
be able to launch new blockbusters from its robust pipeline to make up for
the losses. However, early sales of the company's seven new medicines
released in 2005 -- Inspira, Caduet,
Olmetec, Macugen, Revatio, Zmax (an extended dose
variation of Zithromax still under patent
protection), and Lyrica -- most of which were
developed with partners and only contribute a portion of their revenues to
Pfizer's bottom line, hardly look to be bona fide blockbusters. In fact, 2006
doesn't look to be much brighter for Pfizer: Zmax's
sales are feeling pressure from the generic version of Zithromax.
Additionally, both Lipitor and Zoloft face strong
competition from other companies' generic treatments.
In early 2005, Pfizer announced plans to cut $4 billion in costs by
restructuring certain divisions, including its US sales division and will
continue to tighten its belt internally in 2006.
That robust pipeline includes some 225 projects in development (about 150 new
drugs and about 75 enhancements to existing products), including drugs for
atherosclerosis, diabetes, osteoporosis, breast cancer, epilepsy, anxiety
disorders, and Parkinson's disease. Pfizer has relied to some degree on
acquisitions and partnerships to build its R&D activities. Pfizer has
applied to the FDA to market cessation drug Champix,
antifungal Eraxis, insomnia treatment Indiplon, and Zeven, a powerful
intravenous antibiotic. Stutent, used to treat
kidney and gastrointestinal stromal tumors, was
approved by the FDA in January 2006, as was Exubera,
an insulin inhaler used for the treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes that has blockbuster potential.
The firm's largest customers are the three top drug distributors in the US. McKesson
accounted for 18% of Pfizer's sales in 2004. Cardinal Health accounted for
14%, and AmerisourceBergen accounted for 13%. Not surprisingly, the US is the drugmaker's largest market, where it earned almost 45% of
its 2004 sales. Japan
is its second-largest market, accounting for just 6% of sales.
Pfizer's latest acquisitions, announced in 2005, include the purchase of Angiosyn, a private biotech working on an
anti-angiogenesis therapy for macular degeneration, which can lead to
blindness and Idun Pharmaceuticals, which is
developing apoptosis (programmed cell death) inhibitors to treat liver
disease, cancer, and other diseases. The company is also scooping up the
research divisions of QuoreX, which develops
anti-bacterial drugs targeting hospital infections; research partner Vicuron Pharmaceuticals, which has two anti-infective (anidulafungin and dalbavancin)
drugs under review by the FDA; and Bioren, which
has developed a technology that helps drugs last longer through antibody
optimization. Pfizer plans to spend about $4 billion on acquisitions in 2006
in order to beef up its pipeline. In 2006, the company announced plans to
acquire Rinat Neuroscience, a company developing
drugs for pain, Alzheimer's disease, and other neurological disorders. Pfizer
hopes the purchase will help it gain ground in the biotechnology sector.
While acquiring new holdings on the pharmaceutical front, Pfizer has trimmed
some of its non-pharmaceutical businesses, including operations it acquired
with Pharmacia and include its European generics portfolio and some consumer
health products sold in Europe. The
company's animal health division has sold its diagnostics products division
(which manufactures test for bovine tubuerculosis
and paratuberculosis) to Swiss firm Prionics.
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