Leadership Brings Responsibility
Of course, the responsibility that comes with leadership takes many forms. Last year, we resolved allegations of past off-label promotional practices and paid a significant fine as a result. This was a blow to all of us at Pfizer because it didn't reflect the company that we know.
To move forward, we have taken substantial measures that further strengthen our internal controls and that pioneer new procedures designed to prevent, detect and correct any future problems. These include requiring additional training for our colleagues and leaders, instituting new and advanced monitoring systems and giving greater authority to our Chief Compliance Officer.
People expect us to respect and support their communities, to act ethically, to practice environmental stewardship and to support responsible public policies. That's why we have committed to using our global presence and scale to make a difference in local communities and the world around us. Throughout this report, you can see many examples—from the Global Health Fellows, to MAINTAIN, our program that helps people in the U.S. keep getting the Pfizer medicines they need even after losing their jobs and health insurance, to our long-term agreement to supply Prevenar 13 to the world's poorest countries—of how Pfizer is striving to meet our responsibilities as a global leader.
In everything we do, we are committed to earning the trust of the people we serve. Every employee, every leader and every Director of Pfizer is responsible for helping us do this. One way we work to earn trust is by attracting leaders known for their integrity.
Over the past three years, we've substantially enhanced our leadership at all levels, through internal promotions and by hiring people from inside and outside the industry. We added two outstanding Wyeth executives to our Executive Leadership Team (ELT): Cavan Redmond, who leads Pfizer Diversified Businesses, and Mikael Dolsten, who leads the BioTherapeutics Research and Development Group. We also added Freda Lewis-Hall, a premier physician, researcher and biopharmaceutical executive, as Chief Medical Officer. In addition, we brought in other leaders from outside Pfizer. Some have joined from competitor companies, while others have joined us from groups ranging from major research universities, to FasterCures, to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, to world-class companies outside our industry.
We also have a member of the ELT retiring this April—Bill Ringo, who leads our Worldwide Business Development, Strategy and Innovation teams. After retiring from Eli Lilly, Bill joined Pfizer two years ago and has helped diversify our portfolio through the Wyeth acquisition. He has also connected the company more closely with expanding opportunities in biotechnology. I would like to thank Bill for his wise counsel and his important contributions to the changes that we have made in the last two years.
The Board of Directors has elected Kristin Peck to take over Bill's responsibilities and join the ELT. She has been a Pfizer colleague for several years, and most recently helped lead Worldwide Strategy and Innovation. The Board has also elected Doug Lankler, our Chief Compliance Officer, to the ELT. Doug leads our Corporate Compliance functions. His election reflects Pfizer's continued commitment to integrity and the seriousness with which the Board and I take all issues of compliance.
We are fortunate to have a Board of Directors that is deeply committed to integrity and ethical leadership. Two distinguished members joined us late in 2009, after serving on Wyeth's Board. Dr. Frances D. Fergusson served as President of Vassar College for 20 years, and John P. Mascotte served as CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City.
I want to thank Dr. Dana G. Mead, who is retiring in April after 12 years on our Board. Dana's keen insight and broad experience have been tremendous assets to Pfizer. He entered business after a long career in the military, where he was the youngest colonel in the U.S. Army. He was an executive at International Paper before becoming Chairman and CEO of Tenneco in the 1990s. Since 2003, he has served as Chairman of the MIT Corporation. I am grateful to Dana and to all of our Board members for their strong oversight and wise counsel.
Our Path Forward: The Next Step
As I discussed earlier in this letter, we launched Our Path Forward at the beginning of 2008 to describe where Pfizer stood, where we wanted to go, and our plans for getting there. Since then, Our Path Forward has guided the way Pfizer operates.
Now, Pfizer takes the next step on Our Path Forward. We do so as a much more diversified company, uniquely positioned to apply science and our global reach to improve health and well-being at every stage of life. Having built a track record of keeping our commitments, we can now ask ourselves: How can we serve the world's health needs like no other company?
This report sets out for you some of the ways we are doing that and will do that. As you will see, Pfizer is now much more than the sum of its parts.
All of us at your company are moving forward with clear goals, meaningful accountability and a passion for our work. We know we have much to do in the years ahead, and we know you have significant expectations of us. We will deliver.
Sincerely,
