[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 142 (Tuesday, October 19, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CONGRATULATING PFIZER, INC. ON ITS 150TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDWARD A. PEASE

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 19, 1999

  Mr. PEASE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Pfizer, Inc. on 
its 150th anniversary and to applaud the company for its many 
innovations in the ever-important pharmaceutical industry. Pfizer's 
products, which treat a variety of diseases and conditions, are now 
available in 150 countries. The company also has thriving consumer 
healthcare and animal healthcare divisions. The history of Pfizer is 
one of adventure, risk-taking, confident decision-making, and the 
saving of countless lives around the globe. It's the story of a small 
chemical firm founded in Brooklyn, New York, which, over 150 years, has 
become one of the world's premier pharmaceutical enterprises. Pfizer 
now employs close to 50,000 people in 85 countries, including 278 
employees in its Terre Haute, Indiana, animal health research facility, 
which lies in my home district. Through the hard work of employees at 
these facilities, Pfizer offers its worldwide livestock and companion 
animal customers one of the broadest product lines in the industry.
  Cousins Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart emigrated to the U.S. from 
Germany in the mid-1840s. In New York City, the young cousins combined 
their skills and founded a small chemical firm in 1849. Charles Pfizer 
& Co. improved the American chemical market by manufacturing specialty 
chemicals that had not been produced in the U.S. The company made many 
important discoveries and marketed popular and effective drug 
treatments in its first 75 years. Union soldiers used Pfizer drugs 
extensively during the Civil War.
  However, Pfizer's real emergence as an industry leader was the result 
of a daring risk taken by Pfizer executives in the 1940s. In 1928, when 
Alexander Fleming discovered the germ-killing properties of penicillin, 
he knew that the drug could have a profound medical value. Yet, Fleming 
could not find a way to mass-produce the drug. In 1941, following new 
discoveries relating to this ``wonder drug,'' Pfizer executives put 
their own stocks at stake and invested millions of dollars in order to 
find a way to mass produce penicillin. Eventually, they succeeded. The 
breakthrough came just in time to send penicillin to the frontlines of 
World War II.
  From then on, Pfizer evolved into an international leader in the 
pharmaceutical industry, opening facilities around the globe and 
developing new and effective antibiotics to combat deadly infectious 
diseases.
  Pfizer has spent a great amount of its resources on research and 
development, an approach that has rewarded the company and its 
customers with many successful and effective drugs. Pfizer today is 
renowned as one of the world's most admired corporations for the many 
contributions it has made to our society. I applaud Pfizer on its 150th 
anniversary and for its continued efforts to make this nation and the 
world a healthier place.

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