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Warner-Lambert Company

American company
Also known as: Lambert Pharmacal Company, Warner-Lambert Pharmaceutical Company, William R. Warner and Company, Inc.
Written and fact-checked byThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
Updated:
Table of Contents
Date:
1856 - present
Ticker:
PFE
Share price:
$26.32 (mkt close, Apr. 10, 2024)
Market cap:
$151.64 bil.
Annual revenue:
$58.50 bil.
Earnings per share (prev. year):
$1.83
Sector:
Life Sciences
Industry:
Large Cap Pharma
CEO:
Albert Bourla

Warner-Lambert Company, former diversified American corporation that manufactured products ranging from pharmaceuticals to candy. It became part of U.S. pharmaceutical conglomerate Pfizer Inc. in 2000.

The company dates to 1856, when William Warner, a Philadelphia pharmacist, invented the sugar-coated pill. In 1908 the Warner company was bought by Gustavus A. Pfeiffer and Company, a St. Louis patent-medicine company, which retained the Warner name. The company was incorporated in 1920 as William R. Warner and Company, Inc., and proceeded to buy several other companies—including the Hudnut and Du Barry cosmetics businesses—and move its headquarters to New York City.

Over the next three decades the company embarked upon a series of acquisitions, including Lambert Pharmacal (Listerine), Emerson Drug (Bromo-Seltzer), American Chicle (Chiclets chewing gum), Smith Brothers (cough drops), and Parke-Davis (prescription drugs). Before Warner-Lambert merged with Pfizer, more than half of its sales came from pharmaceuticals, hospital supplies, and nonprescription drugs and health care products.