Cheap generic viagra

24-Apr-2008 : The leaders of Pfizer Inc., one of the globe's leading drug companies, had a tough reception today at their annual shareholder's meeting in Memphis, a reflection of the company's sagging stock price and broader pressures on the pharmaceutical industry.

In a sign of increased scrutiny of the firm's leadership, a shareholder resolution that would have split the roles of CEO and chairman received 42.7 percent of the votes. Most shareholder resolutions don't receive nearly as much support.

The proponents said the measure would have strengthened oversight, but the Pfizer board opposed it.

And shareholders who made it to the morning meeting at the Peabody Hotel raised issues ranging from opposition to Viagra advertising during daytime television to the firm's handling of its stock buyback program.

Louis DeMarco, a retired police officer and stockholder from Brooklyn, N.Y., had many questions. At one point he asked why New York-based Pfizer was holding its annual meeting in Tennessee.

"I don't understand why you refuse to face the shareholders in New York," he said.

The firm holds its shareholders' meeting in different locations because it's a global company, chairman and CEO Jeff Kindler said.

"We operate in over 150 countries around the world," he said. He said it's appropriate for the leadership team to visit workers and investors in different places and said he had enjoyed a visit yesterday with some employees in the firm's Memphis distribution operations.

The firm employs 500 workers in two facilities here.

Pfizer had $48.4 billion in sales last year of dozens of drugs, including the erectile dysfunction pill Viagra, cholesterol control pill Lipitor, and antidepressant Zoloft.

But the firm faces challenges: blood pressure drug Norvasc and allergy drug Zyrtec have lost patent protection, causing the firm to lose market share to generic competitors, The Associated Press has reported.

Lipitor, the world's best-selling drug, will lose its patent protection in 2010, which is likely to cut into the firm's earning. And the political and regulatory environment is critical of big drug firms.

The firm's stock price has slipped from $27.68 on June 1 to $19.79 at market close yesterday, a decline of 29 percent.

That's raised concern on the part of investors like Ruth Wong of Westchester, N.Y. She said she came to the meeting because the stock price fell below $20.

Kindler said the firm has a multi-part strategy to improve performance over time, which should cause the stock price to rise.

"None of us are happy with the stock price, especially me," he said.