PFIZER INC

Patents. We own or have co-promotion and/or license rights related to a number of patents covering pharmaceutical and other products, their uses, formulations, and product manufacturing processes.

Patents for individual products extend for varying periods according to the date of patent filing or grant and the legal term of patents in the various countries where patent protection is obtained. The scope of protection afforded by a patent can vary from country to country and depends on the patent type, the scope of its patent claims and the availability of legal remedies. Patent term extensions (PTE) may be available in some countries to compensate for a loss of patent term due to delay in a product’s approval due to the regulatory requirements, while patent term adjustment may be available in some countries to compensate for administrative delays during prosecution of patents. One of the primary considerations in limiting our operations in some countries outside the U.S. is the lack of effective intellectual property protection for our products, although international and U.S. free trade agreements have included some global protection of intellectual property rights. See the Item 1. Business—Government Regulation and Price Constraints section.

In various markets, a period of regulatory exclusivity may be provided for drugs or vaccines upon approval. The scope and term of such exclusivity will vary but, in general, the period will run concurrently with the term of any existing patent rights associated with the drug at the time of approval.

Based on current sales and other factors, 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:

(1)Unless otherwise indicated, the years pertain to the basic product patent expiration, including granted PTEs, supplementary protection certificates (SPC) or pediatric exclusivity periods. SPCs are included when granted in three out of five major European markets (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K.). Noted in parentheses is the projected year of expiry of the earliest pending patent term extension in the U.S. or Japan and/or SPC application in Europe, the term of which, if granted, may be shorter than originally requested due to a number of factors. In some instances, there are later-expiring patents relating to our products which may or may not protect our product from generic or biosimilar competition after the expiration of the basic patent.

(2)Expiry is provided by regulatory exclusivity in this market.

(3)The Europe patent that covers the combination of the 13 serotype conjugates of Prevenar 13 was revoked following an opposition and has now been withdrawn. There are other Europe patents and pending applications covering the formulation, various aspects of the manufacturing process, and the combination of serotype conjugates of Prevenar 13 that remain in force.

(4)Eliquis was developed and is being commercialized in collaboration with BMS. In the U.S., we and BMS previously settled certain patent litigations with a number of generic companies permitting their launch of a generic version of Eliquis on April 1, 2028 (the settled generic companies). We continued to litigate against three remaining generic companies and following the resolution of the litigation in our favor, the three generic companies are not permitted to launch their products until the 2031 expiration date of the formulation patent. Both the composition of matter patent expiring in November 2026 and the formulation patent expiring in 2031 may be subject to future challenges. While we cannot predict the outcome of any potential future litigation, there are certain potential alternatives that might occur which could potentially permit generic launch prior to April 1, 2028: (i) if the formulation patent is held invalid or not infringed in future litigation, through appeal, the settled generic companies and any successful future litigant would be permitted to launch on November 21, 2026; or (ii) if both patents are held invalid or not infringed in future litigation, through appeal, the settled generic companies and any successful future litigant could launch products immediately upon such an adverse decision. Refer to Note 16A1 for more information.

(5)On October 31, 2023, the U.K. Supreme Court refused BMS’s permission to appeal in relation to the judgment having found the apixaban basic product patent and associated SPC invalid. Additional challenges are pending in other jurisdictions.

(6)Xtandi is being developed and commercialized in collaboration with Astellas, which has exclusive commercialization rights for Xtandi outside the U.S. Pfizer receives tiered royalties as a percentage of international Xtandi net sales.

(7)Interim patent term extension requests have been granted extending the expiry from December 2023 to December 2024 and Pfizer has filed applications for patent term extension to 2028.

(8)Vyndaqel (tafamidis meglumine) basic patent expiry in Japan is August 2026 for treatment of polyneuropathy. Vynmac (tafamidis) was approved in Japan for treatment of cardiomyopathy with regulatory exclusivity expiring in March 2029.

(9)Adcetris is being developed and commercialized in collaboration with Takeda. Pfizer has commercialization rights for Adcetris in the U.S. and its territories and in Canada. Takeda has commercialization rights in the rest of the world and pays Pfizer a royalty based on a percentage of Takeda's net sales of Adcetris in its licensed territories, based on annual net sales tiers.

(10)There are other U.S. patents covering related ADC uses, technology and manufacturing that remain in force beyond composition of matter expiry.

(11)Product not yet approved or authorized in this market.

(12)We have exclusive rights to Braftovi and Mektovi in the U.S., Canada and certain emerging markets. The Pierre Fabre Group has exclusive rights to commercialize both products in Europe and Ono has exclusive rights to commercialize both products in Japan. We receive royalties from The Pierre Fabre Group and Ono on sales of Braftovi and Mektovi in a majority of markets outside the U.S.

(13)Mektovi U.S. expiry is provided by a method of use patent.

(14)Padcev is being commercialized in collaboration with Astellas. Pfizer has co-promotion rights in the U.S. Outside the U.S., Pfizer has commercialization rights in all countries in North and South America, and Astellas has commercialization rights in the rest of the world, including Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.

(15)There is a U.S. patent covering related ADC manufacturing that will remain in force beyond the composition of matter expiry.

(16)In September 2020, Seagen and Merck began a collaboration to commercialize Tukysa. As of December 31, 2023, this collaboration ended and all commercialization rights were returned to Seagen (Pfizer).

(17)Ngenla is being developed in collaboration with OPKO.

(18)Tivdak is developed and commercialized in collaboration with Genmab. Pfizer and Genmab have co-promotion rights in the U.S. Outside the U.S., Pfizer has commercialization rights in the rest of the world except for Japan, where Genmab has commercialization rights, and certain territories where Zai Lab Limited (Zai Lab) has commercialization rights (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan). Pfizer and Genmab equally share all costs and profits for Tivdak in the U.S., Europe, China (including the payments from Zai Lab described below) and Japan. In markets outside the U.S. other than Europe, China, and Japan, Pfizer will pay Genmab a royalty based on a percentage of aggregate net sales. Further, pursuant to the agreement with Zai Lab, Pfizer is entitled to receive potential development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, and tiered royalties on net sales of Tivdak in the Zai Lab territories, which will be shared equally with Genmab.

(19)Expiry is provided by regulatory exclusivity in this market. In addition to regulatory exclusivity, there are U.S. patents covering related ADC manufacturing and technology that remain in force beyond the regulatory exclusivity expiry.

(20)Product is being commercialized in collaboration with BioNTech.

(21)The basic product patent has been granted in the U.K. and expires in 2041. In the other major markets, a patent application has been filed. If granted, a full term is expected.

(22)The basic product patent application has been filed in this market. If granted, a full term is expected in this market.

(23)Pfizer does not have co-promotion rights for this product in Germany.

For information regarding profit sharing and royalty arrangements for certain of these products, see Item 1. Business—Collaboration and Co-Promotion Agreements.

Loss of Intellectual Property Rights. The loss, expiration or invalidation of intellectual property rights, patent litigation settlements and judgments and the expiration of co-promotion and licensing rights can have a material adverse effect on our revenues. Once patent protection has expired or has been lost prior to the expiration date as a result of a legal challenge, we typically lose exclusivity on these products, and generic and biosimilar pharmaceutical manufacturers generally produce identical or highly similar products and sell them for a lower price. The date at which generic or biosimilar competition commences may be different from the date that the patent or regulatory exclusivity expires. However, when generic or biosimilar competition does commence, the resulting price competition can substantially decrease our revenues for the impacted products, often in a very short period of time. Also, if one of our product-related patents is found to be invalid by judicial, court or regulatory or administrative proceedings, generic or biosimilar products could be introduced, resulting in the erosion of sales of our existing products. Additionally, we could be subject to claims that our intellectual property rights infringe third party patents.

Certain of our products have experienced patent-based expirations or loss of regulatory exclusivity in certain markets in the last few years, and we expect certain products to face increased generic competition over the next few years. While additional patent expiries will continue, we expect a moderate impact of reduced revenues due to patent expiries from 2024 through 2025. We anticipate a more significant impact of reduced revenues from patent expiries in 2026 through 2030 as several of our in-line products experience patent-based expirations. There is no assurance that a particular product will maintain market exclusivity for the full time period that appears in the estimates included in this Form 10-K or that we assume when we provide our financial guidance. For additional information on the impact of LOEs on our revenues, see the Overview of Our Performance, Operating Environment, Strategy and Outlook—Our 2023 Performance section within MD&A.

We continue to vigorously defend our patent rights against infringement, and we will continue to support efforts that strengthen worldwide recognition of patent rights while taking necessary steps to help ensure appropriate patient access. See the Item 1A. Risk Factors—Competitive Products,—Intellectual Property Protection and —Third-Party Intellectual Property Claims sections and Note 16A1.

Trademarks. Our products are sold under brand-name and logo trademarks and trade dress. Registrations generally are for fixed, but renewable, terms and protection is provided in some countries for as long as the mark is used while in others, for as long as it is registered. Protecting our trademarks is of material importance to us.