Pfizer makes small deals, too

As if to prove that it's not just relying on its Wyeth megadeal to fuel future growth, Pfizer has inked two new, smaller--and specifically targeted--arrangements. First off, the company has snared more than 50 of Aurobindo Pharma's generic meds for sale in the United States and Europe, the Associated Press reports. In the U.S., Pfizer will license and market 39 generic pills and 12 injectables made by Aurobindo, which will handle regulatory approvals. Pfizer will also market 20 of the copycat pills in Europe.

"We're targeting by 2013 to generate more than $1 billion in incremental sales for the company through portfolio expansion," David Simmons, president and general manager of Pfizer's established products unit, told the AP. The company also is considering ways to sell the off-patent meds in emerging markets such as China, Russian and India, Simmons said.

Second, the company has teamed up with Bausch & Lomb on marketing eye drugs in the U.S. Pfizer and Bausch will each market both companies' products, which include Pfizer's Xalatan and Bausch & Lomb's Altrex, Lotemax and Zylet. By teaming up on sales, the companies hope to better penetrate the ophthalmic market."Working in collaboration, our U.S. sales organizations will now represent one of the broadest product offerings in the U.S. ophthalmic market," Bausch & Lomb's Flemming Ornskov said in a statement. "We'll be able to reach considerably more eye care practitioners, and in turn, better attend to the needs of millions of patients every year."

- check out the Pfizer/Bausch release
- see the Associated Press story

Related Articles:
Pfizer's R&D shakeup based on bio-innovation
Pfizer shelves two (unpromising) drug programs
Pfizer chief takes J&J, Abbott as biz models
Cash-hungry biotechs fear Pfizer/Wyeth deal