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Pfizer Inc.’s $68 billion bid to buy rival drug maker Wyeth might lower blood pressure among its executives, who are trying to deal with flat revenue and competition from cheaper generic drugs.

Whether the acquisition will reduce stress in Chesterfield, one of Pfizer’s major research sites, remains to be seen.

That’s because Pfizer, seller of blockbuster drugs including Lipitor and Viagra, is on a serious cost-cutting kick. On Monday, the world’s biggest drug maker said it intends to cut 10 percent of its global work force, or about 8,000 jobs, as it moves to acquire Wyeth. The cuts will span sales, manufacturing, research and development and administration. New York-based Pfizer also wants to cut its manufacturing sites from 46 to 41.

The Wyeth deal will give Pfizer access to diverse products ranging from Advil to Robitussin. Its sales will immediately grow by about half. Its top rank in the beleaguered pharmaceutical industry will be solidified.

With many new drugs under its umbrella, the deal "gives Pfizer more shots on goal," said Linda Bannister, senior health care analyst with Edward Jones in Des Peres. That is important in the pharmaceutical industry because it is hard to predict which new drugs will hit it big.

But the impact in the St. Louis region is uncertain. Pfizer employs about 1,200 people at a Chesterfield research center that churns out protein-based, injectible or inhalable "biologic" drugs — which the company has said it wants to emphasize. Biologics are made from living sources such as animal or plant cells. Pfizer already sells three such drugs — an inhaled form of insulin and two growth hormones — that were developed partly in Chesterfield. Wyeth, based in Madison, N.J., also has biologic products.

Pfizer acquired the Chesterfield property and a biotech drug-development operation when it bought Pharmacia Inc. in April 2003. The local complex is growing, with the addition of a new $200 million research center that is nearly complete and a separate $50 million expansion. The company expects the local work to stay on track.

"No change," said Pfizer spokesman Rick Chambers. "We’re still moving forward with those."

Other details are more opaque. It is unclear how many workers, if any, will be released in Chesterfield as part of the 8,000 layoffs. Pfizer did not give local numbers.

"It’s really too soon to know what changes or opportunities might emerge" from the deal, Chambers said. It will take perhaps six months or more for the deal to close, he noted. "We’ll be pursuing an integration process as part of that."

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Scientists and technicians at the Chesterfield facility have undergone uncertainty before payday loan. Pfizer announced plans to build a new research building in Chesterfield in April 2004. But then Pfizer sailed into rough waters, partly because of two drugs developed in Chesterfield. The company pulled the arthritis drug Bextra from the market in 2005 after the drug was linked to increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Sales of a related blockbuster drug, Celebrex, also slumped.

In the midst of an effort to cut $4 billion in annual costs by 2008, Pfizer managers asked local governments for tax incentives to keep the $100 million-plus project rolling. (The budget would eventually grow to $200 million). The public money came, and crews got to work.

Now, in the wake of the Wyeth announcement, "It’s difficult to predict what will happen in St. Louis," said Bannister. One thing is definite, she said, "This merger is going to result in layoffs and plant closings" across the combined company.

It is an extremely challenging time for big drug makers such as Pfizer, which has annual revenue topping $48 billion and more than 80,000 employees worldwide. New and tighter regulations seem probable. Also, Pfizer’s pipeline of new drugs has not been as fruitful as might have been hoped.

But if the deal goes through — regulatory approval is expected — Pfizer will be able to tap Wyeth’s medicine cabinet of vaccines, including a promising treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, which is in the final phase of testing.

Will the deal work? Analysts offered mixed assessments.

Pfizer’s growth outlook has improved with the acquisition, said Bannister. "We believe, over the long term, the company is going to be better-positioned," she said.

Several analysts say the deal goes a long way toward fixing one of Pfizer’s main challenges: a heavy reliance on cholesterol fighter Lipitor, which supplies about a quarter of the company’s sales. But the drug’s patent protections expire in 2011, and Lipitor will face tough competition from generic drugs. Pfizer was looking for ways to protect itself.

The deal is "business school 101," said Steve Brozak, president of San Diego-based WBB Securities LLC. Meaning the combined company can use layoffs to increase its combined profits even if sales are stagnant. But, he said, that doesn’t mean sales will grow faster.

"True innovation requires risk-taking," said Brozak. But the health care research industry — including Pfizer — is the most risk-averse in memory, he said. That does not bode well for the company, even with the Wyeth deal.

"The only shot you’ve got at going out there and increasing your revenue," he said, "is by coming out with something really novel."

jmcwilliams@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8372

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