After decades of relative stability, pharmaceutical industry mergers burgeoned about 15 years ago in three distinct waves. The first occurred in the late 1980s/early 1990s, the second happened a few years later, and the third at the beginning of this century. The first wave involved Bristol-Myers Squibb and Smith-Kline Beecham. The second saw: in 1994, American Home Products join with Ayerst and Wyeth, two subsidiaries that had been run independently; in 1995, Glaxo Wellcome, Pharmacia and Upjohn, and Hoechst; and in 1996, Novartis, previously Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz. In 2000, Pfizer merged with Warner Lambert. Recently, Pharmacia was added to the Pfizer family.