Pfizer Animal Health Expands Global R&D Headquarters in Michigan with Opening of Equine Research Center

Pfizer Animal Health invests $7 million in the Pfizer Animal Health Equine Research Center, an equine health research facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan.The center, the culmination of a $7 million investment, expands Pfizer Animal Health?s global research and development network headquarters in Kalamazoo, Mich.

November 9, 2011 — Pfizer Animal Health affirmed its commitment to innovation in equine health with the opening today of the Pfizer Animal Health Equine Research Center in Richland, Mich. The center, the culmination of a $7 million investment, expands Pfizer Animal Health’s global research and development network headquarters in Kalamazoo, Mich., and will serve as the worldwide hub for research and development of equine vaccines and novel therapeutics.

“The dedication of the Equine Research Center builds on the $75 million investment in the renovation and expansion of Pfizer’s veterinary medicine R&D headquarters in Kalamazoo completed in 2009,” said Dr. Cathy Knupp, Vice President, Veterinary Medicine Research and Development, Pfizer Animal Health. “The Center will support the work of a multi-disciplinary team of scientists committed to providing horse owners and the veterinarians who support them with truly innovative, best-in-class health solutions.

The Center adds 24,000 square feet of research laboratory space as well as paddock and pasture facilities. It will serve as the U.S. equine research center of excellence for a multi-disciplinary team of scientists and specialists.

“Horses, like humans, are vulnerable to new outbreaks of prevalent illnesses such as equine influenza virus and Streptococcus equi as well as to emerging diseases such as Hendra virus,” said Dr. Paul Lunn, Ph.D., MRCVS, Dip. ACVIM, Professor and Head, Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University. “The Pfizer Equine Research Center will help answer the urgent imperative for much needed innovation to help horses live longer, healthier lives.”

According to Dr. Mahesh Kumar, executive director, Global Biologics Research, who will lead the vaccine development program at the site, Pfizer and Wyeth/Fort Dodge Animal Health set the standard for first-in-class equine vaccines such as the West Nile Innovator? vaccine and Fluvac Innovator?, the first vaccine against equine influenza virus. “The Center and its scientific team will serve as the engine for equine research, speeding the development of a next generation of equine vaccines and therapeutics,” he said.

Pfizer Animal Health invests more in research development – greater than $300 million annually – than any other animal health company. The veterinary medicine R&D facilities in Kalamazoo, which include the research farm in Richland, serve as U.S. and worldwide headquarters for Pfizer Animal Health’s global R&D network of 15 sites across four continents. These include R&D centers in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Spain, Belgium, France, India, China, and Australia. Pfizer employs more than 800 veterinary R&D scientists and specialists worldwide.

For more information about Pfizer Animal Health, its equine product portfolio and its research and development, visit www.animalhealth.pfizer.com.

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