Gateway For New Medicines

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ST. LOUIS

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Pfizer Inc. consolidates its St. Louis-area R&D operations for greater collaboration.

RESEARCHERS IN THE ST. Louis area played a key role in developing anti-inflammatory medications such as Celebrex and other drugs for

Pharmacia Corp. before New York-based Pfizer Inc. acquired the company in 2003. Pfizer maintained research operations in St. Louis after the purchase because of the city's reputation as a center for developing biologies, including growth hormones and inhaled insulin, and small-molecule medicines used to treat arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary dis ease and respiratory diseases, according to Edward Bryant, Pfizer's senior adviser of public affairs. The Gateway City also is home to the highly regarded Washington University School of Medicine, which has contributed to new drug research.

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Considering the St. Louis region a strategic location for developing new drugs, Pfizer, the world's largest pharmaceutical manufacturer with 2005 revenues of $51.3 billion, began construction last November on a $200 million research building at its Chesterfield, Mo., campus. The new four-story, 330,000-square-foot building will consolidate research operations scattered throughout the St. Louis area into one location when construction is completed in late 2008.