PFIZER’s B. J. ROBISON TO LEAD $400 MIL. CONSUMER HEALTH CARE GROUP

Executive Summary

PFIZER's B. J. ROBISON TO LEAD $400 MIL. CONSUMER HEALTH CARE GROUP as president, officially beginning Jan. 1 of next year, Pfizer announced June 25. Robison is picking up the reins of Pfizer's OTC products group from Joseph Harmon, 59, who is retiring at year-end after 42 years with the company. Harmon will "assist in the transition" of management for the group during the rest of the year, Pfizer noted. Robison also gains the title of corporate VP. Harmon's retirement follows the divestiture of the Coty cosmetics and fragrance business in May for $440 mil. ("The Pink Sheet" May 11, T&G-2), a move designed to refocus the company's efforts on OTC product growth. Pfizer's Health Care Group, previously called the Consumer Products Group, includes the Plax mouth rinse, Ben Gay ointment, Visine eye drops, Unisom sleep aid, Desitin baby ointment, Barbasol shaving cream, Bonine motion sickness medication and Rid pediculicide brand products. Annual sales for the group reached $400 mil. in 1991. With its selection of Robison to head the OTC group, Pfizer is further signaling the expected importance of OTC products and is taking advantage of both his pharmaceutical and sales expertise in preparation for the time when Rx-to-OTC switches pick up momentum. Robison's experience with Pfizer has been strictly on the pharmaceutical side of the business. He has been president of the Pratt Pharmaceuticals division of the firm's U.S. Pharmaceuticals Group since 1990. Robison joined the Pfizer Labs division in 1961 as a sales representative.