Pfizer to hire 200 people in next few months

Pfizer India is proposed to continue increasing its headcount following this it will be hiring an additional 200 people in the next few months. The company will be merging with Wyeth in India, thus it plans to increase its strength before this merger.

Meanwhile world’s largest drugmaker, top Pfizer official informed that there are no immediate plans of merger with Wyeth India and both the companies will continue to function independently.

Kewal Handa, Pfizer India MD told ET on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, “Legally, Pfizer India and Wyeth India are two separate entities. They have separate boards and will therefore function separately. The products of Pfizer and Wyeth are complementary”.

However globally, Pfizer has taken over $68-billion possession of rival Wyeth. With this in India, it will toss Pfizer India back into the group of top 10 drugmakers. Currently, Pfizer India is positioned among the top 15 drug making companies having 2.2% share, in country’s highly-fragmented Rs 36,000 crore domestic drug retail markets. Globally, Pfizer CEO Jeffrey Kindler had pointed out the company is likely to discharge off 19,000 workers of the duty after the merger.

Recently Mr Handa has taken over the additional role of MD of Wyeth India. Generally when companies integrate, several employees are discharged off their duty due to duplication of operations, thus to reduce cost. In India, Pfizer and Wyeth are selling different set of medicines.