Dear Shareholders:

It has been my privilege to serve as Pfizer's Lead Independent Director this year, working with a group of highly-engaged and knowledgeable Board members, strongly attuned to their roles as your fiduciaries. As I embark on my third year as Lead Independent Director, I would like to reflect on 2016 and the many ways in which the Board worked together to provide independent oversight of management and to represent shareholder interests throughout the year.

First and foremost, your Board is composed of fully independent Directors, with the exception of Ian C. Read, Pfizer's Chairman and CEO. The Directors' skills reflect deep expertise and qualifications essential to effective oversight of the business, including business leadership, healthcare industry expertise and extensive experience in finance, science and risk management.

The Board utilizes its deep knowledge and diverse backgrounds to work with management in its oversight of corporate strategy, which we discussed at nearly every Board meeting in 2016. Additionally, we reviewed specific major business and organizational initiatives, capital allocation priorities and business development opportunities. Further, the Board and its Committees were involved in overseeing enterprise risk management, including risk priorities and developments that could impact the business. The Board also discussed Board and management succession planning.

As Lead Independent Director, I work closely with our CEO to ensure that an active dialogue between our independent Directors and management exists. I serve as a representative for our independent Directors and, in this capacity, contribute to the development of, and approval of Board meeting agendas, materials and schedules. At each Board meeting, I also preside over the executive sessions held with the independent Directors.

Further, I am responsible for leading the independent Directors' evaluation of the effectiveness of Pfizer's Chairman and CEO, Mr. Read. This assessment includes an annual evaluation of his performance in leading Pfizer's business as our CEO, as well as his performance as Chairman through his interactions with the Directors and his ability to provide effective leadership and direction to the full Board.

The Board's assessment of Mr. Read also informs the Board's comprehensive annual review of our leadership structure. Our Board strongly believes that Mr. Read's extensive knowledge of the research-based biopharmaceutical industry and his continued demonstration of exemplary leadership and vision, coupled with the active and engaged role that defines the Pfizer Lead Independent Director position, support our belief that, at this time, a unified Chairman and CEO role is the right leadership structure for Pfizer.

During the year, we also focused on Board and Committee composition and refreshment, two important topics to our investors. We discussed these items regularly at meetings and considered projected Director retirement dates in combination with a review of skill sets and qualifications. The Board ensures that it has the appropriate balance of skills, diversity, experience and tenure to provide effective oversight. Informed by this comprehensive review, as well as shareholder feedback we received, the Board recommended several Committee member rotations during 2016, including the appointment of new Chairs to lead the Audit, Compensation and Science and Technology Committees. Since 2012, we have also welcomed four new Directors to the Board, including Ronald E. Blaylock in February 2017, which brings our average tenure of the Board to seven years.

As part of the Board's ongoing commitment to act with integrity and to maintain high corporate governance standards, we continued to place a high priority on listening and responding to shareholder feedback regarding our corporate governance practices. The Board considered the shareholder votes on the proxy items presented at last year's Annual Meeting, which resulted in strong support for the re-election of the Director candidates, the company's auditor and our executive compensation program. One area of focus for the Board was the vote received on the lobbying activities shareholder proposal in 2016. Although the proposal did not pass, in response to the feedback the Board received through our extensive shareholder outreach effort, the Corporate Governance Committee further strengthened its oversight of the company's lobbying activities and priorities and amended its Charter to clarify this responsibility.

The Board remains committed to serving your interests in 2017 and appreciates your continued engagement and support of our company. I invite you to review this Proxy Statement to learn more about your Board, Pfizer's strong corporate governance practices and the proposals on this year's proxy ballot.

Sincerely,

Dennis A. Ausiello, M.D.
Lead Independent Director