New York (AFP)

Pfizer, in partnership with German biotech BioNTech, has just announced a major breakthrough in the development of a vaccine against Covid-19.

Here are some facts about a pharmaceutical laboratory with a rich past.

A company founded in Brooklyn in 1849

Founded by two cousins ​​from Germany, Charles Pfizer, a chemist, and Charles Erhart, a confectioner, in a red brick building in the Brooklyn neighborhood of New York, Pfizer debuts an intestinal worm drug in almond scent.

The company took advantage of the demand for disinfectants and pain relievers during the Civil War (1861–65) to double its revenues.

Manufacturer of both chemicals and drugs, Pfizer then developed techniques to mass-manufacture citric acid, used in particular in sodas, then penicillin during World War II.

The group sold its first drug under the Pfizer brand in 1950, the broad-spectrum antibiotic Terramycin, before expanding more widely in the following years, internationally or in animal medicines.

From Viagra to Xanax

Viagra, a drug launched in 1998 to treat erectile dysfunction, is arguably the most well-known product in the laboratory, along with the anti-depressant Xanax or the anti-cholesterol Lipitor.

The group offers remedies intended to treat cancer as well as cardiovascular or neurological diseases, to individuals and hospitals.

Some of its current blockbusters - drugs grossing over $ 1 billion a year - include the anti-coagulant Eliquis, cancer treatments Ibrance and Xtandi, the pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar 13 / Prevenar 13, and products used in particular in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, Xeljanz and Enbrel.

Over $ 50 billion in revenue

Pfizer has consistently generated annual sales of more than $ 50 billion for ten years, without significant breakthrough, however, due to the lack of a new miracle drug boosting sales.

Its profit last year was $ 16.3 billion.

The laboratory spent around $ 8.7 billion in 2019 on research and development (R&D) but regularly purchases or approaches other companies to complete its portfolio of molecules.

For example, in 2019, it announced the merger of its non-patented medicines activity with the pharmaceutical group Mylan to create a global giant in the generics sector.

The company employs approximately 88,000 people worldwide and sells its products in 125 countries.

Pfizer, which sold its first shares to the general public in 1942, is currently worth $ 214 billion on Wall Street and is one of the world's leaders in pharmacy.

A sprint towards the vaccine

As the Covid-19 pandemic spread around the world, the group entered into a partnership with the German company BioNTech in mid-March to develop a vaccine based on new genetic technology.

Quickly, thanks to Pfizer's strike force, the first tests began in April.

Once the product was selected, a vaccine taken in two doses spaced three weeks apart, a large clinical trial began in July, with a total of more than 40,000 participants.

The lab announced this week that, according to preliminary data, the vaccine was 90% effective.

"It is undoubtedly the most important medical advance of the last 100 years", welcomed his boss Albert Bourla Monday on the American channel CNBC.

Provided the safety is confirmed, Pfizer plans to submit an application for authorization to the United States Medicines Agency (FDA) in late November.

It plans to produce 50 million doses by the end of the year and 1.3 billion in 2021.

© 2020 AFP