This Form 10-K includes discussion of certain clinical studies relating to various in-line products and/or product candidates. These studies typically are part of a larger body of clinical data relating to such products or product candidates, and the discussion herein should be considered in the context of the larger body of data. In addition, clinical trial data are subject to differing interpretations, and, even when we view data as sufficient to support the safety and/or effectiveness of a product candidate or a new indication for an in-line product, regulatory authorities may not share our views and may require additional data or may deny approval altogether.

Some amounts in this Form 10-K may not add due to rounding. All percentages have been calculated using unrounded amounts. All trademarks mentioned are the property of their owners.

ABOUT PFIZER

Pfizer Inc. is a research-based, global biopharmaceutical company. We apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives through the discovery, development, manufacture, marketing, salessale and distribution of biopharmaceutical products worldwide. We work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. We collaborate with healthcare providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable healthcare around the world. The Company was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware on June 2, 1942.

We are committed to strategically capitalizing on growth opportunities, primarily by advancing our own product pipeline and maximizing the value of our existing products, as well asbut also through various business development activities. We view our business development activity as an enabler of our strategies and seek to generate growth by pursuing opportunities and transactions that have the potential to strengthen our business and our capabilities. We assess our business, assets and scientific capabilities/portfolio as part of our regular, ongoing portfolio review process and also continue to consider business development activities that will help advance our business.

Our Biopharma business includes the following therapeutic areas and key products:

R&D is at the heart of fulfilling our purpose to deliver breakthroughs that change patients’ lives as we work to translate advanced science and technologies into the therapies that may be the most impactful for patients. The discovery and development of drugs, vaccines and biological products are time consuming, costly and unpredictable. In addition to discovering and developing new products, our R&D efforts seek to add value to our existing products by improving their effectiveness and ease of dosing and by discovering potential new indications.

We manage R&D operations on a total-company basis through our platform functions described above. Specifically, the Portfolio Strategy & Investment committee, comprisedcomposed of senior executives, is accountable for aligning resources among all of our WRDM, GPD and R&D projects and for seeking to ensure optimal capital allocation across the innovative R&D portfolio. We believe that this approach also serves to maximize accountability and flexibility.

We do not disaggregate total R&D expense by development phase or by therapeutic area since, as described above, we do not manage our R&D operations by development phase or by therapeutic area. Further, as we are able to adjust a significant portion of our spending quickly, we believe that any prior-period information about R&D expense by development phase or by therapeutic area would not necessarily be representative of future spending.

Our operations are conducted globally, and we sell our products in over 125 countries. Emerging markets are an important component of our strategy for global leadership, and our commercial structure recognizes that the demographics and rising economic power of the fastest-growing emerging markets are becoming more closely aligned with the profile found within developed markets. Urbanization and the rise of the middle class in emerging markets provide potential growth opportunities for our products.

We promote our products to healthcare providers and patients. Through our marketing organizations, we explain the approved uses, benefits and risks of our products to healthcare providers;providers and patients; MCOs that provide insurance coverage, such as hospitals, Integrated Delivery Systems,integrated delivery systems, PBMs and health plans; and employers and government agencies who hire MCOs to provide health benefits to their employees. We alsoIn the U.S., we market directly to consumers in the U.S. through direct-to-consumer advertising that seeks to communicate the approved uses, benefits and risks of our products while motivating people to have meaningful conversations with their doctors. In addition, we sponsor general advertising to educate the public on disease awareness, prevention and wellness, important public health issues and our patient assistance programs.

Based on current sales, and considering the competition with products sold by our competitors, the patent rights we consider most significant in relation to our business as a whole, together with the year in which the basic product patent expires, are as follows:

Our business is conducted in intensely competitive and often highly regulated markets. Many of our products face competition in the form of branded or generic drugs or biosimilars that treat similar diseases or indications. The principal forms of competition include efficacy, safety, ease of use and cost. Though the means of competition vary among our products, demonstrating the value of our products is a critical factor for success.

Operating conditions have also shifted as a result of increased global competitive pressures, industry regulation and cost containment. We continue to evaluate, adapt and improve our organization and business practices in an effort to better meet customer and public needs. We believe that we have taken an industry-leading role in evolving our approaches to U.S. direct-to-consumer advertising, interactions with, and payments to, healthcare professionals and medical education grants. We also continue to sponsor programs to address patient affordability and access barriers, as we strive to advance fundamental health system change through our support for better healthcare solutions.

market” or early market position for our biosimilars to provide customers a lower-cost alternative immediately when available and also to potentially provide us with higher levels of sales and profitability until other competitors enter the market.

MCOs that focus primarily on the immediate cost of drugs often favor generics over brand-name drugs. Many governments also encourage the use of generics as alternatives to brand-name drugs in their healthcare programs, including Medicaid in the U.S., and U.S. laws generally allow, and in some cases require, pharmacists to substitute generic drugs for brand-name drugs. In a small subset of states, prescribing physicians are able to expressly prevent such substitution.

We believe medicines and vaccines are the most efficient and effective use of healthcare dollars based on the value they deliver to the overall healthcare system. We work with law makers and advocate for solutions that effectively improve patient health outcomes, lower costs to the healthcare system, and help ensure access to medicines and vaccines within an efficient and affordable healthcare system. This includes assessing our go-to market model to address patient affordability challenges. We have engaged with major payors and the U.S. government to explore opportunities to improve access and reimbursement in an effort to drive pro-patient policies. In addition, in response to the evolving U.S. and global healthcare spending landscape, we work with health authorities, health technology assessment and quality measurement bodies and major U.S. payers throughout the product-development process to better understand how these entities value our compounds and products. Further, we seek to developare developing stronger internal capabilities focused on demonstrating the value of the medicines and vaccines that we discover or develop, register and manufacture, by recognizing patterns of usage of our medicines and vaccines and competitor medicines and vaccines along with patterns of healthcare costs.

MCOs typically negotiate prices with pharmaceutical providers by using formularies (which are lists of approved medicines available to MCO members), clinical protocols (which require prior authorization for a branded product if a generic product is available or require the patient to first fail on one or more generic products before permitting access to a branded medicine), volume purchasing, long-term contracts and their ability to influence volume and market share of prescription drugs. In addition, by placing branded medicines on higher-tier or non-preferred status in their formularies, MCOs transfer a portion of the cost to the patient, resulting in significant patient out-of-pocket expenses. This financial disincentive is a tool for MCOs to manage drug costs and channel patients to medicines preferred by the MCOs. The ACA has accelerated payment reform by distributing risk across MCOs and other stakeholders in care delivery with the intent of improving quality while reducing costs, which creates

pressure on MCOs to tie reimbursement to defined outcomes. We are closely monitoring these newer approaches and developing appropriate strategies to respond to them.

The breadth of the products covered by formularies can vary considerably from one MCO to another, and many formularies include alternative and competitive products for treatment of particular medical problems. MCOs also emphasize primary and preventive care, out-patient treatment and procedures performed at doctors’ offices and clinics as ways to manage costs. Hospitalization and surgery, typically the most expensive forms of treatment, are carefully managed, and drugs that can reduce the need for hospitalization, professional therapy or surgery may become favored first-line treatments for certain diseases.

For a biopharmaceutical company to market a drug or a biologic product, including vaccines, in the U.S., the FDA must evaluate whether the product is safe and effective for its intended use. If the FDA determines that the drug or biologic is safe and effective, the FDA will approve the product’s NDA or Biologics License Application (BLA)BLA (or supplemental NDA or supplemental BLA), as appropriate.

In the context of public health emergencies, like the COVID-19 pandemic, we may apply for EUA withto the FDA for an EUA, which whenif granted, allows for the distribution and use of our products during the term declared and extended by the government,emergency, in accordance with the conditions set forth in the EUA, unless the EUA is otherwise terminated atby the government’s discretion.government. Although the criteria offor an EUA differ from the criteria for approval of an NDA or BLA, EUAs nevertheless require the development and submission of data to satisfy the relevant FDA standards, and a number of ongoing compliance obligations. The FDA generally expects EUA holders to work toward submission of full applications, such as a BLA or an NDA, as soon as possible. For BNT162b2, we are working towards submitting a BLA for possible full regulatory approval.

attorneys general have also taken action to regulate the marketing of prescription drugs under state consumer protection and false advertising laws.

In China, pricing pressures have increased in recent years because of an overall focus on healthcare cost containment with government officials emphasizing improved health outcomes, healthcare reform and decreased drug prices as key indicators of progress towards reform. DrugFor patented products, drug prices have decreased dramatically as a result of adding innovative drugs (including oncology medicines) to the National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL). In the off-patent space, numerous local generics have been officially deemed bioequivalent under a QCE process that required domestically-manufactured generic drugs to pass a test to assess their bioequivalence to a qualified reference drug (typically the originator drug). A centralized VBP program, has also been initiated and expanded nationwide, under which a tender process has been established where a certain portion of included molecule volumes are guaranteed to tender winners. The programwinners and is intended to contain healthcare costs by driving utilization of generics that have passed QCE, which has resulted in dramatic price cuts for off-patent medicines. Furthermore, the Chinese government has discussed moving toward efforts to unify the reimbursement price between QCE-approved generic medicines and the applicable original medicines, which the government currently plans to

Considerable political and economic pressure has weakened current intellectual property protection in some countries and has led to policies such as more restrictive standards for obtaining patents and more difficult procedures for patenting biopharmaceutical inventions, restrictions on patenting certain types of inventions, revocation of patents, laws or regulations that promote or provide broad discretion to issue a compulsory license, weak intellectual property enforcement and failure to implement effective regulatory data protection.

Our operations are affected by national, state and/or local environmental laws. We have made, and intend to continue to make, the expenditures necessary for compliance with applicable laws. We also are cleaning up environmental contamination from past industrial activity at certain sites. We incurred capital and operational expenditures in 20202021 for environmental compliance purposes and for the clean-up of certain past industrial activity as follows: $42$55 million in environment-related capital expenditures and $120$152 million in other environment-related expenses.

Our continued success links directly to the commitment, engagement and performance of our employees. It is important that we not only attract and retain the best and brightest diverse talent, but also ensure they remain engaged and can thrive in an environment that is committed to helping them grow, succeed and contribute directly to achieving our purpose. As part of these efforts, we strive for an inclusive and empowering work environment, adopting practices to simplify processes and remove needless complexity, rewarding both performance and leadership skills,

fostering career growth and internal mobility and offering competitive compensation and benefits programs that encourage healthy work-life balance, so that all colleagues feel ready, equippedmental and energizedphysical well being.

Private payers, such as health plans, and other managed care entities, such as PBMs, continue to take action to manage the utilization and costs of drugs. NegotiatingThe negotiating power of MCOs and other private third-party payers has increased due to consolidation, and they, along with governments, increasingly employ formularies to control costs and encourage utilization of certain drugs, including through the use of formulary inclusion or favorable formulary placement. These initiatives have increased consumers’ interest and input in medication choices, as they pay for a larger portion of their prescription costs and may cause them to favor lower-cost generic alternatives. We may fail to obtain or maintain timely or adequate pricing or formulary placement of our products, or fail to obtain such formulary placement at favorable pricing.

Competitive product launches may erode future sales of our products, including our existing products and those currently under development, or result in unanticipated product obsolescence. Such launches have recently occurred,continue to occur, and potentially competitive products are in various stages of development. We cannot predict with accuracy the timing or impact of the introduction of competitive products that treat diseases and conditions like those treated by our in-line drugsproducts and drugproduct candidates.

In addition, our patented products may face generic competition before patent exclusivity expires, including upon the “at-risk” launch (despite pending patent infringement litigation against the generic product) by a manufacturer of a generic version of one of our patented products. Generic manufacturers have filed applications with the FDA seeking approval of product candidates that they claim do not infringe our patents or claim that our patents are not valid; these include candidates that would compete with, among other products, Eliquis, Ibrance and Xeljanz. Our licensing and collaboration partners also face challenges by generic drug manufacturers to patents covering products for which we have licenses or co-promotion rights.

The discovery and development of new products, as well as the development of additional uses for existing products, are necessary for the continued strength of our business. Our product lines must be replenished over time to offset revenue losses when products lose exclusivity or market share, as well as to provide for earnings growth, eitherprimarily through internal R&D or through collaborations, acquisitions, JVs, licensing or other arrangements. Growth depends in large part on our ability to identify and develop new products or new indications for existing products that address unmet medical needs and receive reimbursement from payers. However, balancing current growth, investment for future growth and the delivery of shareholder return remains a major challenge. The costs of product development continue to be high, as are regulatory requirements in many therapeutic areas, which may affect the number of candidates we are able to fund as well as the sustainability of the R&D portfolio.

Additionally, our product candidates can fail at any stage of the R&D process, and may not receive regulatory approval even after many years of R&D. We may fail to correctly identify indications for which our science is promising or allocate R&D investment resources efficiently, and failure to invest in the right technology platforms, therapeutic areas, product classes, geographic markets and/or licensing opportunities could adversely impact the productivity of our pipeline. Further, even if we identify areas with the greatest commercial potential, the scientific approach may not succeed despite the significant investment required for R&D, and the product may not be as competitive as expected because of the highly dynamic market environment and the hurdles in terms of access and reimbursement.

We operate on a global scale and could be affected by currency fluctuations, capital and exchange controls, global economic conditions including inflation, expropriation and other restrictive government actions, changes in intellectual property legal protections and remedies, trade regulations, tax laws and regulations and procedures and actions affecting approval, production, pricing, and marketing of, reimbursement for and access to our products, as well as byimpacts of political or civil unrest or military action, including the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, terrorist activity, unstable governments and legal systems, and inter-governmental disputes.

Some emerging market countries may be particularly vulnerable to periods of financial or political instability or significant currency fluctuations or may have limited resources for healthcare spending. As a result of these and other factors, our strategy to grow in emerging markets may not be successful, and growth rates in these markets may not be sustainable.

We continue to monitor the global trade environment and potential trade conflicts and impediments that could impact our business. If trade restrictions or tariffs reduce global economic activity, potential impacts could include declining sales; increased costs; volatility in foreign exchange rates; a decline in the value of our financial assets and pension plan investments; required increases of our pension funding obligations; increased government cost control efforts; delays or failures in the performance of customers, suppliers and other third parties on whom we may depend for the performance of our business; and the risk that our allowance for doubtful accounts may not be adequate.

From time to time, we issueissued variable rate debt based on LIBOR, or undertakeundertook interest rate swaps that contain a variable element based on LIBOR. The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority announced in 2017 that it will no longer compel banks to submit rates that are currently used to calculate LIBOR after 2021. This deadline was extended until June 2023 for a number of key U.S. dollar benchmark maturities (including the 1-month and 3-month

LIBOR rates). The U.S. Federal Reserve has selected the Secured Overnight Funding Rate (SOFR) as the preferred alternate rate and the transition away from LIBOR will continue despite the extended timeline. We are planning for this transition and will amend

We could encounter difficulties or delays in our supply chain, product manufacturing and distribution networks, as well as sales or marketing, due to regulatory actions, shut-downs, work stoppages or strikes, approval delays, withdrawals, recalls, penalties, supply disruptions, shortages or stock-outs at our facilities or third-party facilities that we rely on, reputational harm, damagethe impact to our facilities due to health pandemics or natural or man-made disasters, including as a result of climate change, product liability or unanticipated costs. Examples of such difficulties or delays include the inability to increase production capacity commensurate with demand; challenges related to component materials to maintain supply and/or appropriate quality standards throughout our supply network and/or comply with applicable regulations; inability to supply certain products due to voluntary product recalls (as is the case with Chantix); and supply chain disruptions at our facilities or at a supplier or vendor.

Regulatory agencies periodically inspect our manufacturing facilities, as well as third-party facilities that we rely on, to evaluate compliance with cGMP or other applicable requirements. Failure to comply with these requirements may subject us to possible legal or regulatory actions, such as warning letters, suspension of manufacturing, seizure of product, injunctions, debarment, product recalls, delays or denials of product approvals, import bans or denials of import certifications. For example,

In July and August 2021, Pfizer recalled 16 lots of Chantix in September 2017, our subsidiary, Meridian, receivedthe U.S. due to the presence of a warning letter fromnitrosamine, N-nitroso-varenicline, at or above the FDA assertinginterim acceptable intake limit. In September 2021, Pfizer expanded its voluntary recall in the FDA’s view that certain violationsU.S. to include all lots of cGMPChantix. We currently also have a voluntary recall across multiple markets and Quality System Regulations exist at Meridian’s manufacturing sitesa global pause in St. Louis, Missourishipments of Chantix. Technical solutions are being pursued to reduce nitrosamine levels in Chantix to enable return to market. Nitrosamines are impurities common in water and classifying the site as Official Action Indicated (OAI). Meridian respondedfoods and everyone is exposed to the warning letter and committedsome level of nitrosamines. In response to making improvementsrequests from various regulatory authorities, manufacturers across the sites. We have made considerable progress addressingpharmaceutical industry, including Pfizer, are evaluating their product portfolios for the concerns raised bypotential for the FDA, and communication with the FDA is ongoing. Future FDA inspections and regulatory activities will further assess the adequacy and sustainabilitypresence or formation of these corrections implemented at the site. As a result of the OAI classification, the FDAnitrosamines. This may refuselead to grant premarket approval of applications and/additional recalls or the FDA may refuse to grant export certificates related to products manufactured at our St. Louis sites.

The prevalence of counterfeit medicines is an industry-wide issue due to a variety of factors, including the adoption of e-commerce, which increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, greatly enhancing consumers’ ability to obtain prescriptions and other medical treatments via the Internetinternet in lieu of traditional brick and mortar pharmacies or authorized full-service internet pharmacies. The internet exposes patients to greater risk as it is a preferred vehicle for dangerous counterfeit offers and scams because of consumers’ misplaced trust with certain e-commerce retailers coupled with the anonymity itthe internet affords counterfeiters.

We consistently invest in an enterprise-wide strategy to aggressively combat counterfeit threats by educating patients and health care providers about the risks, investing in innovative technologies to detect and disrupt sophisticated internet offers and scams, proactively monitoring and interdicting supply with the help of law enforcement; and advising legislators and regulators. However, our efforts and those of others may not be entirely successful, and the presence of counterfeit medicines may continue to increase.

U.S. and international governmental regulations that mandate price controls or limitations on patient access to our products or establish prices paid by government entities or programs for our products impact our business, and our future results could be adversely affected by changes in such regulations or policies. The adoption of restrictive price controls in new jurisdictions, more restrictive controls in existing jurisdictions or the failure to obtain or maintain timely or adequate pricing could also adversely impact revenue. We expect pricing pressures will continue globally.

Other U.S. federal or state legislative or regulatory action and/or policy efforts could adversely affect our business, including, among others, general budget control actions, changes in patent laws, the importation of prescription drugs to the U.S. at prices that are regulated by foreign governments, revisions to reimbursement of biopharmaceuticals under government programs that could reference international prices or require new discounts, restrictions on U.S. direct-to-consumer advertising, limitations on interactions with healthcare professionals and other industry stakeholders, or the use of comparative effectiveness methodologies that could be implemented in a manner that focuses primarily on cost differences and minimizes the therapeutic differences among pharmaceutical products and restricts access to innovative medicines.

Regulatory approvals of our products depend on myriad factors, including a regulator making a determinationregulatory determinations as to whether a product is safethe product’s safety and efficacious.efficacy. In the context of public health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic, regulators evaluate various factors and criteria to potentially allow for marketing authorization on an emergency or conditional basis. Additionally, clinical trial and other product data are subject to differing interpretations and assessments by regulatory authorities. As a result of regulatory interpretations and assessments or other developments that occur during the review process, and even after a product is authorized or approved for marketing, a product’s commercial potential could be adversely affected by potential emerging concerns or regulatory decisions regarding or impacting labeling or marketing, manufacturing processes, safety and/or other matters.matters, including decisions relating to emerging developments regarding potential product impurities.

assessments, and/or consumer fraud, product liability and other litigation and claims. Further regulatory agency requirements may result in a more challenging, expensive and lengthy regulatory approval process than anticipated due to requests for, among other things, additional or more extensive clinical trials prior to granting approval, or increased post-approval requirements. For these and other reasons discussed in this Risk Factors section, we may not obtain the approvals we expect within the timeframe we anticipate, or at all.

As a condition to granting marketing authorization or approval of a product, the FDA may require additional clinical trials or other studies. The results generated in these trials could result in the loss of marketing approval, changes in labeling, and/or new or increased concerns about the side effects, efficacy or safety. Regulatory agencies in countries outside the U.S. often have similar regulations and may impose comparable requirements. Post-marketing studies and clinical trials, whether conducted by us or by others, whether mandated by regulatory agencies or conducted voluntarily, and other emerging data about products, such as adverse event reports, may also adversely affect the availability or commercial potential of our products. Further, if safety or efficacy concerns are raised about a product in the same class as one of our products, those concerns could implicate the entire class; and this, in turn, could have an adverse impact on the availability or commercial viability of our product(s) as well as

The terms of our EUA for the BNT162b2 vaccineComirnaty require that we conduct post-authorization observational studies. In addition,studies in patients at least 5 years of age or older who received a booster dose, or other populations of interest including healthcare workers, pregnant women, immunocompromised individuals, and subpopulations with specific comorbidities. Additionally, in relation to the FDA expectsapproval for Comirnaty, we are required to complete certain postmarketing study requirements and commitments by 2024 as identified in the August 2021 approval letter. The terms of our EUA holdersfor Paxlovid require monitoring for convergence of global viral variants of SARS-CoV-2 and potential assessment of Paxlovid activity against identified global variants of interest. Additionally, in relation to work towards submission of full application, suchthe potential FDA approval for Paxlovid, we are required to complete certain other analyses and studies as a BLA, as soon as possible.

We are and may be involved in various legal proceedings, including patent litigation, product liability and other product-related litigation, including personal injury, consumer, off-label promotion, securities, antitrust and breach of contract claims, commercial and other asserted and unasserted matters, environmental, government investigations, employment, tax litigation and other legal proceedings that arise from time to time in the ordinary course of our business. Litigation is inherently unpredictable, and excessive verdicts do occur. Although we believe that our claims and defenses in matters in which we are a defendant are substantial, we could in the future incur judgments, enter into settlements or revise our expectations regarding the outcome of certain matters, and such developments could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Government investigations and actions could result in substantial fines and/or criminal charges and civil penalties, limitations on our ability to conduct business in applicable jurisdictions, corporate integrity or deferred prosecution agreements and other disciplinary actions, as well as reputational harm, including as a result of increased public interest in the matter. In addition, in a qui tam lawsuit in which the government declines to intervene, the relator may still pursue a suit for the recovery of civil damages and penalties on behalf of the government.

Our sales and marketing activities and the pricing of our products are subject to extensive regulation under the FFDCA, the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, the FCPA and other federal and state statutes, including those discussed elsewhere in this Form 10-K, as well as the Anti-Kickback Statute, anti-bribery laws, the False Claims Act, and similar laws in international jurisdictions. In addition to the potential for changes to relevant laws, the compliance and enforcement landscape is informed by government litigation, settlement precedent, advisory opinions, and special fraud alerts. Our approach to certain practices may evolve over time in light of these types of developments. Requirements or industry standards in the U.S. and certain jurisdictions abroad require pharmaceutical manufacturers to track and disclose financial interactions with healthcare professionals and healthcare providers and can increase government and public scrutiny of such financial interactions. If an interaction is found to be improper, government enforcement actions and penalties could result. Like many companies in our industry, we have from time-to-time received, and may receive in the future, inquiries and subpoenas and other types of information demands from government authorities. In addition, we have been subject to claims and other actions related to our business activities, brought by governmental authorities, as well as consumers and private payers. In some instances, we have incurred significant expense, civil payments, fines and other adverse consequences as a result of these claims, actions and inquiries. Such claims, actions and inquiries may relate to alleged non-compliance with laws and regulations associated with the dissemination of product (approved and unapproved) information, potentially resulting in government enforcement action and reputational damage. This risk may be heightened by digital marketing, including social media, mobile applications and blogger outreach.

We and certain of our subsidiaries are also subject to numerous contingencies arising in the ordinary course of business relating to legal claims and proceedings, including environmental contingencies. Amounts recorded for legal and environmental contingencies can result from a complex series of judgments about future events and uncertainties and can rely heavily on estimates and assumptions. While we have accrued for worldwide legal liabilities, there is no guarantee exists that additional costs will not be incurred beyond the amounts accrued.

Our success largely depends on our ability to market technologically competitive products. We rely and expect to continue to rely on a combination of intellectual property, including patent, trademark, trade dress, copyright, trade secret and domain name protection laws, as well as confidentiality and license agreements, to protect our intellectual property and proprietary rights. If we fail to obtain and maintain adequate intellectual property protection, we may not be able to prevent third parties from launching generic or biosimilar versions of our branded products, from using our proprietary technologies or from marketing products that are very similar or identical to ours. Our currently pending or future patent applications may not result in issued patents or be granted on a timely basis. Similarly, any term extensions that we seek may not be granted on a timely basis, if at all. For example, in May 2021, the Brazilian Supreme Court voted to invalidate Article 40 of Brazil’s Patent Law, which guaranteed a minimum 10-year patent term from patent grant, and to give retroactive effect to such decision. In addition, our issued patents may not contain claims sufficiently broad to protect us against claims regarding validity, enforceability, scope and effective term made by parties with similar technologies or products or provide us with any competitive advantage, including exclusivity in a particular product area.

A properly functioning intellectual property regime is essential to our business model. We are committed to respecting the valid intellectual property rights of other companies, but the patent granting process is imperfect. Accordingly, the pursuit of valid business opportunities may require us to challenge intellectual property rights held by others that we believe were improperly granted, including challenges through negotiation and litigation, and such challenges may not always be successful.

Part of our business depends upon identifying biosimilar opportunities and launching products to take advantage of those opportunities, which may involve litigation, associated costs and time delays, and may ultimately not be successful. These opportunities may arise in situations where patent protection of equivalent branded products has expired or been declared invalid, or where products do not infringe the patents of others. In some circumstances we may take action, such as litigation, asserting that our products do not infringe patents of existing products or that those patents are invalid or unenforceable in order to achieve a “first-to-market” or early market position for our products.

For example, our R&D in a therapeutic area may not be first and another company or entity may have obtained relevant patents before us. We are involved in patent-related disputes with third parties over our attempts to market generic pharmaceutical products and biosimilars.products. Once we have final regulatory approval of the related generic products, or biosimilars, we may decide to commercially market these products even though associated legal proceedings (including any appeals) have not been resolved (i.e., “at-risk” launch). If one of our marketed products is found to infringe valid patent rights of a third party, such third party may be awarded significant damages or royalty payments, or we may be prevented from further sales of that product. Such damages may be enhanced as much as three-fold if we or one of our subsidiaries is found to have willfully infringed valid patent rights of a third party.

Significant disruptions of information technology systems or breaches of information security could adversely affect our business. We extensively rely upon sophisticated information technology systems (including cloud services) to operate our business. We produce, collect, process, store and transmit large amounts of confidential information (including personal information and intellectual property), and we deploy and operate an array of technical and procedural controls to maintain the confidentiality, integrity and integrityavailability of such confidential information. We have outsourced significant elements of our operations, including significant elements of our information technology infrastructure and, as a result, we manage relationships with many third-party vendorsproviders who may or could have access to our confidential information. We rely on technology developed, supplied and/or maintained by third-parties that may make us vulnerable to “supply chain” style cyber-attacks. Further, technology and security vulnerabilities of acquisitions, business partners or third-party providers may not be identified during due diligence or soon enough to mitigate exploitation. The size and complexity of our information technology and information security systems, and those of our third-party vendorsproviders (and the large amounts of confidential information that is present on them), make such systems potentially vulnerable to service interruptions or to security breaches from inadvertent or intentional actions by our employees or vendors,contingent workers, providers, or malicious attackers. Cyber-attacksAs a global pharmaceutical company, our systems and assets are the target of frequent cyber-attacks. Such cyber-attacks are of ever-increasing levels of sophistication and are made by groups and individuals with a wide range of motives (including, but not limited to, industrial espionage) and expertise, including organized criminal groups, “hacktivists,” nation states and others. As a global pharmaceutical company, our systems are subject to frequent cyber-attacks. Due to the nature of some of these attacks, there is a risk that they may remain undetected for a period of time. While we have invested in the protection of data and information technology, our efforts may not prevent service interruptions, extortion, theft of confidential or security breaches.proprietary information, compromise of data integrity or unauthorized information disclosure. Any such interruption or breach of our systems could adversely affect our business operations and/or result in the loss of critical or sensitive confidential information or intellectual property, and could result in financial, legal, business and reputational harm to us. We maintain cyber liability insurance; however, this insurance may not be sufficient to cover the financial, legal, business or reputational losses that may result from an interruption or breach of our systems.

We expect to enhance our in-line products and product pipeline through various forms of business development, which can include alliances, licenses, JVs, collaborations, equity- or debt-based investments, dispositions, divestments, mergers and acquisitions. The success of these activities is dependent on the availability and accurate cost/benefit evaluation of appropriate opportunities, competition from others that are seeking similar opportunities and our ability to successfully identify, structure and execute transactions, including the ability to satisfy closing conditions in the anticipated timeframes or at all, and successfully integrate acquisitions. Pursuing these opportunities may require us to obtain additional equity or debt financing, which could result in increased leverage and/or a downgrade of our credit ratings. Where we acquire debt or equity securities as all or part of the consideration for business development activities, the value of those securities will fluctuate, and may depreciate. We may not control a company in which we invest, and, as a result, we will have limited ability to determine its management, operational decisions and policies. Further, while we seek to mitigate risks and liabilities of such transactions through, among other things, due diligence, there may be risks and liabilities that such efforts fail to discover, that are not disclosed to us, or that we inadequately assess. The success of any of our acquisitions will depend, when applicable, on our ability to realize anticipated benefits from integrating these businesses with us. We, for example, may fail to achieve cost savings anticipated with certain of these acquisitions, or such cost savings within the expected time frame. Similarly, the accretive impact anticipated from certain of these acquisitions may not be realized or may be delayed. Integration of these businesses may result in the loss of key employees, the disruption of ongoing business, including third-party relationships, or inconsistencies in standards, controls, procedures and policies. We also may fail to generate the expected revenue growth for the acquired business. Expected revenue from acquired products and product candidates also may be constrained by developments outside of our control. Unsuccessful clinical trials, regulatory hurdles and commercialization challenges may adversely impact revenue and income contribution from products and product candidates, including those acquired in these acquisitions.

In 2019, we and GSK combined our respective consumer healthcare businesses into a JV that operates globally under the GSK Consumer Healthcare name. Although we have certain consent, board representation and other governance rights, we are a minority owner of the JV and do not control the JV, its management or its policies. As a result, our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the transaction depend upon GSK’s operation and management of the JV. In addition, the JV is subject to risks that are different than the risks associated with our business. Many of these risks are outside GSK’s or the JV’s control and could materially impact the business, financial condition and results of operations of the JV.

In June 2021, GSK has indicatedannounced that it intends to separatedemerge at least 80% of its 68% ownership interest in the JV asin mid-2022, subject to GSK shareholder approval. Following the demerger, the JV is expected to be an independent, listed company listed on the U.K. equity market. Until July 31, 2024,London Stock Exchange with American Depositary Receipts to be listed in the U.S., in which Pfizer would initially hold a 32% ownership interest and GSK hasmay hold up to a 13.6% ownership interest. Notwithstanding GSK’s announcement, the exclusive right to initiate a separation and listing transaction. We have the option to participate in a separation and listing transaction initiated by GSK. However, the separation and public listing transactiondemerger may not be initiated or completed within expected time periods or at all, and both the timing and success of the demerger (or any other separation and public listing transaction, as well as the value generated for us or our shareholders in any such transaction,transaction), will be subject to prevailing market conditions and other factors at the time of such transaction. Any future distribution or sale of our stake in the JV will similarly be subject to prevailing market conditions and other factors at the time of such transaction. Our ability to complete any such future distribution or sale may also be impacted by the size of our retained stake at the time. The uncertainty relating to theany separation and public listing transactions (including the announced demerger), their implementation, their timing and their yet to be determined effects on the JV’s business may subject us and the JV to risks and uncertainties that may adversely affect our business and financial results.

Our business, operations and financial condition and results have been and may continue to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic to varying degrees. The pandemic has presented a number of risks and challenges for our business, including, among others,others: impacts due to travel limitations and mobility restrictions; manufacturing disruptions and delays; supply chain interruptions,disruptions and shortages, including challenges related to reliance on third-party suppliers;suppliers resulting in reduced availability of materials or components used in the development, manufacturing, distribution or administration of our products; disruptions to pipeline development and clinical trials, including difficulties or delays in enrollment ofenrolling certain clinical trials, retaining clinical trial participants, accessing needed supplies, and accruing a sufficient number of cases in access to needed supplies;certain clinical trials; decreased product demand, due to reduced numbers of in-person meetings with prescribers, patient visits with physicians, vaccinations and elective surgeries, resulting in fewer new prescriptions or refills of existing prescriptions and reduced demand for products used in procedures; further reduced product demand as a result of unemployment or increased unemployment;focus on COVID-19 vaccination; challenges presented by reallocating personnel and R&D, manufacturing and other resources to assist in responding to the pandemic; costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, including practices intended to reduce the risk of transmission, increased supply chain costs and additional R&D costs incurred in our efforts to develop a vaccine to help prevent COVID-19 and potential treatments for COVID-19;an oral COVID-19 treatment; challenges related to our business development initiatives, including potential delays or disruptions related to regulatory approvals; interruptions or delays in the operations of regulatory authorities, which may delay potential approval of new products we are developing, potential label expansions for existing products and the launch of newly-approved products; challenges operating in a virtual work environment; potential increased cyber incidents such as phishing, social engineering and malware attacks; challenges related to our intellectual property, both domestically and internationally, including in response to any pressure or legal or regulatory action that could potentially result in us not seeking intellectual property protection for, licensing, or agreeing not to enforce

We also face risks and uncertainties related to our efforts to develop and commercialize a vaccine to help prevent COVID-19 and potential treatments foran oral COVID-19 treatment, as well as challenges related to their manufacturing, supply and distribution, including, among others, others:

Further, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the volatile global economic conditions stemming from the pandemic, could precipitate or amplify the other risks that we identify in this Risk Factors section, which could adversely affect our business, operations and financial condition and results.

We are continuing to monitor the latest developments regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on our business, operations and financial condition and results, and have made certain assumptions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic for purposes of our operational planning and financial projections, including assumptions regarding the duration, severity and the global macroeconomic impact of the pandemic, as well as COVID-19 vaccine and oral COVID-19 treatment supply and contracts, which remain dynamic. Despite careful tracking and planning, we are unable to accurately predict the extent of the impact of the pandemic on our business, operations and financial condition and results due to the uncertainty of future developments. In particular, we believe the ultimate impact on our business, operations and financial condition and results will be affected by the speed and extent of the continued spread of the coronavirus globally, the emergence of additional virus variants, the duration of the pandemic, new information regarding the severity and incidence of COVID-19, the safety, efficacy and availability of vaccines and treatments for COVID-19, the rate at which the population becomes vaccinated against COVID-19, the global macroeconomic impact of the pandemic and governmental or regulatory actions to contain the virus or control supply of medicines.medicines and vaccines. The pandemic may also affect our business, operations or financial condition and results in a manner that is not presently known to us or that we currently do not consider as presenting significant risks.

Growth in costs and expenses, changes in product and geographic mix and the impact of acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings, internal reorganizations, product withdrawals, recalls and other unusual events that could result from evolving business strategies, evaluation of asset realization and organizational restructuring could adversely affect future results. Such risks and uncertainties include, in particular, our ability to realize the projected benefits of our cost-reduction and productivity initiatives, other corporate strategic initiatives and any acquisitions, divestitures or other initiatives, as well as potential disruption of ongoing business.

We expect to relocate our global headquarters to the Spiral, an office building in the Hudson Yards neighborhood of New York City, with occupancy expected beginning in the second half of 2022. In April 2018, we entered into an agreement to lease space at this property. In July 2018, we completed the sale of our current headquarters in New York City. We remain in a lease-back arrangement with the buyer while we complete our relocation.

The executive officers of the Company are set forth in this table. Each holds the office or offices indicated until his or her successor is chosen and qualified at the regular meeting of the BOD to be held on the date of the 20212022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, or until his or her earlier death, resignation or removal. Each of the executive officers is a member of the Pfizer Executive Leadership Team.

The following graph assumes a $100 investment on December 31, 2015,2016, and reinvestment of all dividends, in each of the Company’s Common Stock, the S&P 500 Index, and a composite peer group of the major U.S. and European-based pharmaceutical companies, which are: AbbVie Inc., Amgen Inc., AstraZeneca PLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Eli Lilly and Company, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Inc., Novartis AG, Roche Holding AG and Sanofi.Sanofi SA.

Five Year Performance