Corporate Governance
With corporate governance in the headlines, I want to take this opportunity to thank Pfizer's independent directors for their commitment and engagement. It is testimony to the quality of the company and our Board that we are able to attract leaders who can have their pick of directorships among the world's largest publicly held companies. Our newest Director, Stephen W. Sanger, joined the Board on February 1, 2009. He previously served as Chairman of General Mills, Inc., from 1995 until his retirement in 2008.
William R. Howell, the Chairman Emeritus of J.C. Penney Company, Inc., will retire from the Board of Directors on April 23, 2009. W.R. joined Pfizer's Board from Warner-Lambert's and served with distinction, most recently on the Audit Committee. I am grateful for his wide-ranging contributions, strong oversight and wise counsel.
Improving Trust
"Doing things differently" means working harder to listen to our customers and to respond to what they tell us. They've said that this industry is too complex to understand easily and that we need to build a much stronger bond of trust between Pfizer and all those who have an interest in our business, especially those who use and prescribe our medicines.
This past year, we've pushed to make more information about our medicines and science available to the public. We've now put the results, positive and negative, of more than 1,000 clinical trials into the public domain, through our Web site, www.pfizer.com. In 2008 we also began listing on our Web site all the grants and charitable contributions Pfizer makes to U.S.-based medical, scientific and patient organizations. We changed our approach to funding continuing medical education. We are continuing to fund such programs through not-for-profit organizations such as universities, teaching hospitals and medical societies, and ending funding for continuing medical education done through for-profit companies. We stopped distributing pens, pads and other items emblazoned with our drug brand names at doctors' offices. We also launched the industry's most comprehensive medicine safety Web site to give people more information on assessing the risks and benefits of new medicines. In February 2009 we announced that we will disclose compensation for doctors and clinicians outside our company who do critical work with us. We are moving quickly to put important information about our business and scientific practices into the public domain, in response to what customers have told us they want.
We have also worked to put issues that diminish trust behind us. In 2008 our results were affected by a $2.3 billion pre-tax and after-tax charge resulting from an agreement in principle with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve a previously reported investigation regarding allegations of past off-label promotional practices concerning Bextra, a medicine withdrawn in 2005, as well as certain other open investigations.
Pfizer and Wyeth
Pfizer's path forward now includes an agreement to acquire Wyeth. Once this acquisition is complete, Pfizer will be uniquely positioned to promote health and wellness at all stages of life, and respond more effectively to unmet medical needs. We will also be one of the most diversified companies in the global health care industry, overcoming reliance on any single product. The new company will offer people a range of treatments for every stage of life—from vitamins for prenatal care to baby formula to vaccines to readily available consumer products to therapies for pain, cancer and Alzheimer's disease. We will lead in nearly every dimension of biopharmaceuticals and in almost all of the world's major markets.
Pfizer's acquisition of Wyeth will be a transformational step enabled by a willingness to do things differently. We look to the future with optimism and relish the work we have yet to do to make Pfizer the world's premier biopharmaceutical company. Thank you for your continued confidence in our people, our products and our plans for the future.
Sincerely,
Jeff Kindler
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
MARCH 12, 2009
(1) Represents primarily the total of Adjusted Cost of Sales(2), Adjusted SI&A expenses(2) and Adjusted R&D expenses (2).
(2) "Adjusted income" and its components and "adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS)" are defined as reported net income and its components and reported diluted EPS excluding purchase-accounting adjustments, acquisition-related costs, discontinued operations and certain significant items. Adjusted Cost of Sales, Adjusted SI&A expenses and Adjusted R&D expenses are income statement line items prepared on the same basis, and, therefore, components of the overall Adjusted Income measure. A reconciliation of 2008 and 2007 adjusted income and its components and adjusted diluted EPS to reported net income and its components and reported diluted EPS is provided in our Form 8-K filed on January 26, 2009, which is available on our Web site at www.pfizer.com in the "Investors—SEC Filings" section.
