Patients at Our Center Pfizer 2018 Annual Review
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About This Review

Scope of Reporting

This review covers Pfizer's worldwide business and provides information on our activities for the year ending on December 31, 2018. It describes key dimensions of our purpose, strategy and performance. It also describes critical challenges in society - from expanding access to health care to our environmental impact - and our strategies for addressing them. Data in this review covers the calendar year from January 1 to December 31, 2018, unless otherwise stated. There have been no significant changes from previous reporting periods in the scope, boundary or measurement methods applied in this review.

Corporate Responsibility Materiality

The content of this report is based on two key factors - its importance to stakeholders and its potential to influence business strategy. Pfizer aims to address critical issues most relevant for colleagues and external stakeholders. These include the following topics that influence the sustainability of the organization:

  • Access to Medicines
  • Environment (Sustainability)
  • Culture and Employee Engagement/Retention
  • Employee Health & Safety
  • United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
  • Quality, Manufacturing and Supply Chain Governance and Ethics

Stakeholder Engagement

We greatly value our stakeholders' perspectives, and all Pfizer units globally and locally engage with stakeholders on relevant issues throughout the year. We continue to explore new ways to engage a broad range of stakeholders to better understand the evolving reporting environment and determine how key non-financial indicators are impacting our financial performance.

Corporate Responsibility Management

This review was developed by a core group of Pfizer colleagues representing each business unit and other key functions. The core group is managed by our Corporate Affairs department, whose leader is a member of the Executive Leadership Team and reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer. Pfizer's commitment to society is embedded in our business strategy and vision, and our commercial teams and functional groups share the commitment to integrate such values into our daily work. The Corporate Responsibility team sets the strategic direction for meeting our commitment to society and supports the integration and implementation of programs and non-financial reporting throughout the company. We are actively engaged in a dialogue with investors around their interest in environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance and the impact on the company. Today, we strive to have these principles permeate Pfizer at every level - including our Board of Directors - which maintains oversight for these issues through the Corporate Governance Committee. The Committee maintains an informed status on our corporate social responsibility, sustainability and philanthropic efforts and progress.

Improving Our Access to Medicine Offerings

Every two years, the Access to Medicine Index (ATMi) analyzes the top 20 research-based pharmaceutical companies on how they make essential medicines, vaccines and diagnostics accessible in low- and middle-income countries. The Index ranks these companies according to their efforts and their impact in improving access, including capacity building, research and development, compliance and other variables.

According to the 2018 ATMi, Pfizer improved its overall ranking by three places. The performance increase was acknowledged through the introduction of our access-to-medicine strategy and commitment to health care system strengthening. Pfizer obtained improvements in the following categories:

  • Market Influence & Compliance
  • Capacity Building
  • General Access to Medicine Management
  • Pricing, Manufacturing & Distribution
  • R&D

Pfizer supports the goals of the ATMi and recognizes the importance of having a tool that attempts to measure access to medicines. Our improved ranking to number 11 on the list is a confirmation of the significant efforts we make to increase access to our medicines, including advancements in our pipeline, the development and implementation of equitable pricing strategies and expanding our various donation programs.

Global Reporting Frameworks

Pfizer continues to evaluate our approach to reporting, including reference to several existing, globally-recognized external frameworks. These include the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC). We relied on elements of each framework in developing this year's Annual Review while formally adhering to none in its entirety. We included GRI Reference Tables as a tool to help readers more readily locate relevant information within this review and across Pfizer's web-based resources.

Pfizer also considers elements of other ESG indices and sustainability indicators - in particular, the ATMi and the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (also known as the Global Goals). Throughout this review, you will see the Global Goals icons alongside various efforts to highlight the work we are doing across Pfizer to meet these goals by 2030.

As a signatory to the UN Global Compact - a document that asks companies to embrace universal principles and to partner with the UN - we submit an annual communication to the UN on our progress made toward achieving the Global Goals. View the full progress update.

Read more about our Corporate and Shareholder Information, including Forward-Looking Statements.

Forward-Looking Information

This Annual Review includes forward-looking statements about, among other things, our anticipated operating and financial performance, business plans and prospects, in-line products and product candidates, including anticipated regulatory submissions, data read-outs, study starts, approvals, performance, timing of exclusivity and potential benefits of Pfizer's products and product candidates, strategic reviews, capital allocation, business-development plans, our acquisitions and other business development activities, our ability to successfully capitalize on growth opportunities or prospects, manufacturing and product supply and plans relating to share repurchases and dividends. that are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Please refer to Pfizer's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, and Pfizer's subsequent reports on Form 10-Q, including the sections thereof captioned "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Information and Factors That May Affect Future Results," as well as Pfizer's subsequent reports on Form 8-K for a description of the substantial risks and uncertainties related to the forward-looking statements included in this Annual Review. These reports are available on our website at www.pfizer.com and on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) website at www.sec.gov. The forward-looking statements in this Annual Review speak only as of the original date of this Annual Review and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any of these statements, except as required by law or the rules and regulations of the SEC.