Global pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to add code to look for new "money tree"

Just last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer Inc (PFE.NYSE), the largest U.S. drugmaker, was in preliminary talks with generic drug maker AGN.NYSE about a merger. If successful, it would be the biggest acquisition of 2015, involving up to $400 billion, and Pfizer would overtake JNJ. NYSE as the world's largest pharmaceutical group.
, Pfizer responded by saying it was "not convenient to speculate and comment" but revealed that "Pfizer will continue to be an active acquirer in the market".
" Whether globally or in China, we are looking for the right target for mergers and acquisitions, and as long as such mergers and partnerships are more beneficial to patients, industry and the company's stakeholders, the company will continue to do so. Wu Xiaobin, president of Pfizer China, told reporters at a recent ceremony to mark the 10th anniversary of Pfizer's China research and development center.
, many international pharmaceutical giants, including Novarma (NVS.NYSE), Bayer and GSK (GSK.NYSE), have stepped up mergers and acquisitions in recent years. As recently as September 2015, Pfizer announced the completion of a nearly $17 billion acquisition of Hershey.
" this merger is very fast, at present, the integration work has begun, the Staff Conference in China has been held, our integration work in 2015 can basically be completed. Wu Xiaobin said in response to the progress of Hershey's merger.
the pharmaceutical industry is slowing rapidly and there is an urgent need to find new profit growth points, which industry insiders believe is the main reason for the pharmaceutical giant's enthusiasm for mergers and acquisitions in recent years.
to the Chinese market, for example, according to Wu Xiaobin, the overall pharmaceutical market growth rate of more than 20% before 2013, and in 2015 has declined to 10%, foreign pharmaceutical companies also showed a decline in the same proportion.
addition to the general decline in market growth, for foreign pharmaceutical companies in China, another issue that has to be considered is that more and more star drug patents are expiring, and the traditional "money tree" is facing fierce competition.
take Pfizer as an example, the past star products Liputo, Van Aico and so on have patents expired, the original absolute monopoly of drugs will usher in a lot of relatively cheap generic drugs.
" for Pfizer, mergers and acquisitions should be more than just about being bigger and stronger. Mergers and acquisitions can indeed turn around performance in the short term, but more importantly, they may want to lay out new directions, find new profit growth points, and develop drugs like Lipto and Van Aico that absolutely dominate the market. An industry insider told reporters.
this idea is confirmed by Pfizer's current research and development team layout. In addition to mergers and acquisitions, Pfizer is understood to have spent more than $7 billion a year on research and development in recent years. In 2014, Pfizer committed a total of $7.2 billion in research and development, up about 9% from 2013. Pfizer currently has more than 10,000 research and development staff worldwide and more than 1,000 in China, became the largest research and development team outside the United States. (First Finance)