Steere ran Pfizer when Lipitor and Viagra helped make it the largest pharma company on the planet. He remained a potent force on the board through Pfizer's struggles and management crises. Steere helped install -- and remove -- Hank McKinnell and Jeff Kindler as chief executive and also played a key role in Ian Read's ascension to CEO last year.
India's Ranbaxy won the right to make a generic version -- only to be accused of serious fraud and shoddy practices in another case.
