12:05pm -- five R&D and 5 manufacturing site closures were announced, but Pfizer still did very well evern with all the disruptions (including the mass layoff the company announced). I love then execs call layoffs "employee redeployments". Heh.

12:08pm -- Many of Pfizer's drug product situations are being explained as "revenue risks" right now (sounds like a warning to me). Pfizer did, I think, surprise the market with its Q1 figures in the face of a ton of changes that were occurring in the firth three months of 2007.

12:10pm -- Pfizer wants to "maximize short and long-term revenues" as a major goal. This is so obvious it's amazed it was uttered. Doesn't every company plan on doing this? Pfizer is also excited about its HIV and oncology (cancer) drugs that are upcoming soon.

12:12pm -- Pfizer needs to establish a lower expense base as a second company priority. Again, this should be an ongoing effort to return the best to shareholders as possible. Pretty generic stuff here, really. Pfizer does want to be leaner and quicker according to this ongoing scripted reading.

12:14pm -- the "newly energized and excited" sales force (field folks) are really energized about all the new Pfizer products. That's interesting considering that mass layoffs generally don't do much for employee morale. But, this positive spin is commendable (though hollow). With Pfizer closing many plants and R&D centers, how will it grow more and more? Good question.

12:16pm -- This opening statement is getting redundant. The final (and third) priority for the company is to make Pfizer a "great place to work". Folks, this gloss-over stuff is fine, but results are what count for any company. Let's get to it, eh?

12:18pm -- want more details on all this initial glossy goodness? Here you go:

• U.S. commercial operations have been restructured into five individually focused and accountable areas, each led by a general manager. This new commercial structure is intended to ensure that managers closest to our customers are empowered to make key strategic decisions swiftly and with agility to take advantage of competitive opportunities.
• The R&D organization is being simplified. We are reducing the number of R&D sites, consolidating our therapeutic areas, and removing layers of management. We have embarked on a concerted talent-retention and recruitment strategy for key R&D talent.
• The Pfizer Incubator, established to fund early-stage technology or product-development projects, opened last month on the Pfizer campus in La Jolla, California. The Incubator demonstrates Pfizer's new emphasis on actively engaging with academic innovators to advance science and the value of our medicines, while benefiting patients and medical researchers.
• Pfizer has completed more than 30 business-development transactions over the past 15 months and is on track to surpass this number over the next 15 months.
  

12:20pm -- the analyst Q&A starts. First question: what is the U.S. sales performance regarded to Lipitor and its rebate program (or inventory changes and planning). Where is Lipitor's patent issue in Europe (the EU, specifically)? Answers: the growth of Lipitor was impressive across the board, but in the U.S., pricing was the factor for Lipitor's growth, with rebates at the 1% to 2% level in the U.S. market? In regards to Lipitor's EU challenge, the basic Lipitor patent expires in 2011, but one of the top two markets to watch in Europe, the UK, Ireland and Spain are facing patent expirations initially.

12:23pm -- the second question: what are the "script trends" on exubra (?). The answer: script trends (prescription trends in the medical marketplace) among the GP (general practicioner) will be targeted towards type-2 diabetics and will ramp as expected when appropriate. Hence: Pfizer doesn't know, but sometimes in the second half is an educated guess.

12:28pm -- third question: what is the status of the Lipitor patent in the U.S., and when is this patent expected to expire? Alan Waxman explains that the Lipitor patent expires in 2010, as Pfizer has lost an U.S. Supreme Court case recently that would have extended this (most likely).

12:30pm -- next question: Pfizer's results were better than expected. Why is that? And, what does this hold for Q2? The answer: revenues may be flat in Q2, and Pfizer's rebate program that will be upcoming in Q2 is *not* really available right now.

12:32pm -- next question: was rebating from Pfizer's overall amount due to products outside of Lipitor? The answer: all products contribute to rebating, but the answer is not given in specific terms.

12:35pm -- another question: would Pfizer ever spin off decisions into separate tracking stocks based on internal performance? The answer: Pfizer is not looking to do things like this at all so far.

12:37pm -- why did Lipitor U.S. prescriptions decline by 7% (outside of rebates affecting the quantities). The "volume component" of a 3% increase in Lipitor happened, but sales and growth will "unwind" during the rest of the year.

12:39pm -- next question: How large is the Lipitor business in Canada, and does Pfizer expect generic Lipitor competition in 2007 or 2008 in Canada? Answer: the amount of Lipitor sales in Canada right now are $800 to $900 million per year. Right now, there is a court case and regulatory situations affecting whether Lipitor will remain by itself for the rest of 2007 or if it will see generic competition.

12: 43pm -- next question: why are non-essential products getting "top billing" on Pfizer's corporate material (annual report) recently? Is the company planning a large move in this area in 2007? Answer: Pfizer's play in biotherapeutics did not play a role on placing those kinds of smaller products on the cover of its latest annual report. Coy, Pfizer.

12:47pm -- next question: what is Pfizer's specific Exubra purchase obligations? The answer comes back that Pfizer can't get into commercial versus medical (consumer) obligations in detail.

12:49pm -- next question: any major M&A on the table for Pfizer soon, since torcetrapib was a failure? Pfizer answers by saying "never say never" in terms of possible mergers and acquisitions. Business environments will make things change that may make Pfizer look at options in the mergers and acquisitions arena. In other words, no direct answers here.

12:52pm -- last question: why did Pfizer guide down its earnings for 2007? Answer: Losing patent protection for Norvask will lessen guidance by about 13 cents per share over the course of 2007. That and taxation rule changes are the two reasons why Pfizer management sees its guidance going down this year.

12:55pm -- the conference call ends and Pfizer execs all say "goodbye". Thanks guys.