One type of matrix to consider is the Boston Consulting Group matrix (BCG).

The BCG is uses market

share and growth rate data surrounding the products of a company or in Pfizer’s case types of drugs
available. (Arline, 2015) The matrix itself is split into four quadrants labeled in general stars, questions,
cows, and dogs respectively. Stars are generally labeled as those products that are considered to have
the highest market share and require the most amounts of cash in order to create these products with
high market share. (Arline, 2015) The next quadrant is traditionally labeled as questions or question
marks and these are products that have high growth capabilities, but may consume a large amount of
cash and are not yet bringing in a high rate of return. The author does suggest that these questions
could turn into stars if the proper care is taken foster these products andpromote them successfully.
(Arline, 2015) The third quadrant is represented of the cash cow which consists of steady products that
generate revenue, but do not consume too much cash in the process. The products in this category
however, are generalized as low market growth products and unlike questions or question mark
products do not turn into stars. The last quadrant reflects those products as dogs which are attributed
to products that are low market share and low returns. Arline says that most of these are scraping by
just breaking even and are considered by business executives and accountants as possible money pits.
(Arline, 2015) Using this matrix style in particular can be beneficial to determine the revenue of various
specific drugs produced by Pfizer as well as vaccines. Beginning with stars Pfizer has several outstanding
drugs available one the market that creates large amounts of revenue and have high market share.
Three drugs that have generated high revenue include Lyrica, Inylta, and Xalkori which generated $397
million dollars in revenue. (Pfizer, 2014) However, in the Annual Review Lyrica was reported to have
generated $5,168 million in revenue market share. (Annual Review 2014, 2015) Each of these drugs are
useful stars for Pfizer as each are designed to treat different various health issues ranging from never
pain to cancer and therefore having a diversified top selling drug list can ensure that the company will
be highly likely to obtain revenues in lieu having several products to treat the same medical condition.
Continual research into finding drugs that treat medical conditions successfully and are also well known
either because there is a strong lay medical knowledge of conditions such as blood, pressure, diabetes,
and cancer as well as through marketing such as commercials or brochures. Although the guarantee that
every product that makes it through the FDA approvals will be a star is slim and therefore the Pfizer
Company should therefore continue to obtain long standing patents and increase research and
development in order to increase the chances of their product becoming a star product. Following stars,
questions or question products that could potential alter the market for Pfizer and could become star
products include several items in their consumer health range which houses several well know products,
Centrum Vitamin line and Nexium OTC. Each of these products has continued to gain notice of both
consumers and Pfizer executives alike. The over the counter version of the well-known pharmaceutical
drug Nexium was launched in the United States and several other countries in foreign markets.
Additionally, Centrum sold worldwide in 86 counties and an additional 16 countries by the end of 2016.
(Annual Review 2014, 2015) Although these question products have been successful for Pfizer their
future in the Company and as they rate to future competition products is unknown, but further
marketing and pricing will be essential for the continued success of these two products as both can be
used to treat and/or prevent further, more expensive medical issues. Adding to the questions quadrant
the move into biosimilar will be a product of question as this is a new market for this company and
many products are underway yet none are available for market just yet. Biosimilars are drugs closely
related to original biological drug, but have a slightly different makeup yet work just as well. Currently,
Pfizer is working to create more affordable medicines in the form of biosimilars for medical fields
including endocrinology, neurology, immunology, oncology, and hematology. (Biologics and Biosimilars,
2015) Despite there not being any products available there is a high probability that these products have
the potential to be successful and if not able to work as biosimilars the research put into these products
could also be used for other projects that are occurring within the Pfizer Company. Moving forward to
the third quadrant, cash cows, Pfizer has a group of products that fit this description as provided by
Arline is the vaccine program. Top vaccine Prevnar 13 has become a success for Pfizer and research and
development for other vaccines such as the Meningitis B vaccine Trumemba. Prevnar 13 was one of the
first drugs of its kind tofight against valent 13 pneumococcal strains and in 2012 generated $4.2 billion in
revenue. (Bryant, 2013) Although, the revenue for vaccines is higher the reason for not making this
product a star in the BCG matrix because most vaccines are only given a few times per lifetime whereas
other medications for chronic conditions are taken frequently over a long period of time, therefore
despite high revenues these vaccines cannot be guaranteed to be used regularly, but are frequent
enough to garner a portion of high market share. Pfizer then should continue research and development
into vaccines as there is still many conditions scientist, medical professionals, and pharmaceutical
industries are attempting to eradicate for better health across the globe and so far Pfizer has proven
that this portion of pharmaceuticals can be profitable and should continue to focus a portion of research
and development funding to vaccines. The final quadrant of the BCG matrix, dogs has been useful in
identifying products that are no longer generating enough revenue for Pfizer and/or losing patent
exclusivity rights soon or have lost it in other countries. There are several drugs that have recently lost
their exclusivity recently such as Detrol and Detrol LA which control overactive bladder recently lost
exclusivity in Europe in 2012 and the United States in 2014 and therefore sales have dropped
dramatically due to recent generic releases. Conversely, Viagra was a number one selling drug for many
years, but the patent for Viagra is set to expire in by the end of the decade and the preparation for the
end exclusivity has made Viagra a less than desirable drug to have on the market in the eyes of Pfizer as
it will no longer generate the accustomed revenue due to the pending generic release as well as other
cheaper alternatives such as Cialis or Levitra. One of the benefits of understanding what products are
dogs in the Pfizer drug market can help the Company understand when to expect decreased revenues
and when to focus on other upcoming drugs or the creation of new and innovative marketing
techniques to promote awareness for other Pfizer products. In preparing for the futurePfizer has several
options to deal with these dogs. Pfizer can release new versions of these drugs, such as lower dose
forms, or creating over the counter equivalents. Both of these tactics can help Pfizer retain exclusivity of
their product as well as offering more options to patients in the management of their health. Below is a
visual of the BCG Matrix conducted for Pfizer.

The BCG Matrix is an excellent representation of how well products are doing in the market compared
to other drugs offered by competitors or if they’re the first in their class, how are consumers responding
to this new type of therapy and are physicians writing for it frequently and other factors that are
considered in this type of matrix.

C. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix The graph above illustrates the geographical divisions of Pfizer
The graph above illustrates the geographical divisions of Pfizer. It can be observed from the information
provided that the international division has greater sales volume and profit compared to US division.
Even with this given information, we cannot simply discount the merits of the performance of the US
division. If we look at it from a different perspective, the international division covers the rest of the
world, while the US division only covers 50 states. We can safely say that Americans patronize Pfizer
compared to any other country in the whole world.
In contrast with the previous graph, this illustration above give information on the company’s divisions
by their products. It can be observed from this graph that Pharmaceutical products are the stars of the
company while its Animal Health and Corporate are its cash cows. Pharmaceuticals, being the
company’s star, has a large market share and shows the greatest potential for growth among other
divisions. The other two segments, while having large market shares, show low levels of growth. The pie
slices within the circles also reveals the percent of corporate profits contributed by each division. This
shows that Pharmaceuticals contributed most profits, with Animal Health in second, and Corporate
bringing up the rear.