Pfizer Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Pfizer Foundation makes grants for public and global health, as well as disease research. The foundation’s parent company, meanwhile, makes grants for research and educational programs that are of “strategic importance” to this pharmaceutical giant.
IP TAKE: The Pfizer Foundation describes its work as “significant and far-reaching, impacting millions of people around the globe annually.” Meanwhile, Pfizer Inc. runs a separate grantmaking program, supporting research on issues that are “of strategic importance” to the company. Foundation grants mainly support large health organizations and NGOs, but Pfizer Inc. posts many RFPs each year for its competitive grantmaking program. If your organization is involved in medical research, it might be worthwhile to sign up for email alerts about Pfizer’s RFPs. Unfortunately, the Pfizer Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals for funding at this time.
PROFILE: The Pfizer Foundation is the charitable arm of the global pharmaceutical company Pfizer. Based in New York City, the foundation aims to “to improve access to quality healthcare, nurture innovation and support the community involvement of Pfizer colleagues.” The foundation currently makes grants in five areas: supporting community-based innovations, preventing infectious diseases, supporting local health centers to address infectious diseases, promoting health equity through social determinants of health and colleague and community engagement.
It is worth noting that the Pfizer Foundation is run separately from Pfizer’s Independent Grants program, which sponsors research and education that is “aligned with Pfizer’s medical and/or scientific strategies.” The Independent Grants program funds its own competitive grants, independent medical education grants, investigator sponsored research and quality improvement grants.
Grants for Public Health, Global Health, Diseases and Science Research
The Pfizer Foundation’s grantmaking focus areas include the following:
Grants aimed at supporting community-based innovations stem from Pfizer’s Global Health Innovation program, which was established in 2016 to enhance health infrastructure and improve the quality and access of care in “low- and middle-income countries” around the world. Recent areas of specific interest have included child mortality, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases, vaccination campaigns and infectious disease preparedness. Funding has supported both non-profit and for-profit health organizations, including Reach 52, which works to scale successful healthcare practices in developing areas with data-driven models, and Penda Health, which works to provide affordable and high-quality care at clinics at three locations in Kenya.
The foundation’s giving for infectious diseases supports efforts in the U.S. and around the world with a “specific focus on building and strengthening systems that combat vaccine preventable illness.” A main grantee-partner in this area is the International Rescue Committee, which has received millions from Pfizer for its work providing vaccinations and other services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Other infectious disease grantees include the International Society for Infectious Diseases and the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.
In 2020, Pfizer established its Innovation Awards in Community Health to help “U.S. safety-net community healthcare providers to support innovative approaches to infectious disease education, screening, testing, treatment and care.” Grantees include North Dakota’s Sanford Medical Center, the Alliance of Chicago Community Health Services and Detroit’s Henry Ford Health Systems.
Also established in 2020, Pfizer’s Accelerating Health Equity Grants support organizations working “working to improve the health of Black communities across the U.S.” In addition to healthcare providers, these grants have supported organizations that focus on social determinants of health, including nutrition, exercise and addiction prevention. Grantees include the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health, the Council on Black Health, the Black Women’s Health Imperative and the California Black Health Network.
Pfizer’s Independent Grant Program runs the following grantmaking initiatives:
Competitive Grants support medical research, initiatives to improve healthcare quality and professional health education “to improve patient outcomes in areas of unmet medical need that are aligned with Pfizer’s medical and/or scientific strategies.” This program accepts applications in response to RFPs, which Pfizer posts on the program page. Recent RFPs have concerned pediatric endocrinology, women’s healthcare in Canada, early detection for atrial fibrillation and the advancement of health literacy in Ireland. Recent grants have been awarded to organizations, institutes and medical schools including the Indiana University, the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians and the Annenberg Center for Health Science, among others.
Independent Medical Education Grants support “activities or initiatives which serve to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge, skills, and/or professional performance of a healthcare professional.” The program supports annual meetings, visiting professorships and awards grants in response to RFPs that concern professional training or medical education. One recent RFP concerned education for Japanese healthcare professionals on new treatments for hemophilia. In the U.S., Pfizer requested proposals for programs to increase provider understanding of individual approaches to menopause care. Grantees have included Boston University School of Medicine, the University of Minnesota, Integrity Continuing Education and the Academy for Continued Healthcare Learning.
Investigator Sponsored Research Grants (ISR grants) support research on the efficacy, safety or other medical or scientific knowledge related to Pfizer products. Specifically, Pfizer defines ISR grants as “a type of grant that supports an independent research study where the investigator or organization is the sponsor of the study and where Pfizer provides financial and/or non-financial support for the development or refinement of specific and defined medical knowledge relating to a Pfizer asset.” To access RFPs for this program, sign up for alerts at the program page.
Quality Improvement Grants “the global healthcare community’s independent quality improvement initiatives to improve patient outcomes in areas of unmet medical need that are aligned with Pfizer’s medical and/or scientific strategies.” Unlike ISR grants, grantmaking for quality improvement does not involve Pfizer products or assets, but instead address “such as clinical competence, outcomes and process assessment, program evaluation, quality indicators, and quality assurance using methodologically rigorous protocols with an endpoint goal of readiness for application to practice.” To see RFPs for this program, sign up for alerts at the program page.
Other Grantmaking Opportunities
Pfizer also supports health initiatives in the U.S. and around the world through its colleague and community engagement program, Give Forward. The program involves matching gifts from Pfizer to U.S.- and Puerto Rico-based organizations supported by Pfizer employees, matching gifts to humanitarian organizations responding to natural and man-made disasters around the world, and “skills-based volunteer” through which Pfizer employees may “share their expertise, in-person or virtually, with nonprofit organizations that help advance health and wellbeing in underserved communities around the world.”
Important Grant Details:
The Pfizer Foundation made close to $28 million in grants in a recent year. Grants mainly range from $5,000 to $600,000, but several COVID-19 response grants have been made in amounts of several millions. Nevertheless, Pfizer’s average grant size is about $25,000. This funder mainly works with large nonprofits, NGOs and social enterprises that aim to improve healthcare access globally. For additional information on past grantmaking, see the foundation’s recent tax filings.
Pfizer’s Independent Grants are made through Pfizer Inc. It is, therefore, harder to discern how much the company gives away per year through its giving programs. Grants mainly support researchers and teams at universities and institutes working in Pfizer’s areas of interest around the world.
The Pfizer Foundation does not accept applications for any of its grantmaking programs. General inquiries may be directed to the foundation via telephone at 212-733-4250. Pfizer Inc. maintains a database of RFPs for its Independent Grants, and encourages grantseekers and researchers to sign up for grant opportunity alerts.
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