The deal gives a great deal of added heft to Pfizer’s pharmaceutical division — the combined Pfizer/Wyeth entity represents $70 billion in annual sales. Pfizer was already the leading pharmaceutical supplier at retail pharmacy for the 12 months ending November according to IMS Health. And that’s thanks in large part to the company’s Lipitor franchise. While Lipitor is the No. 1 drug sold in retail pharmacy today, the first patent protecting the statin expires as soon as 2010, though most analysts project a generic Lipitor will be introduced by November 2011.
