Apixaban, Xarelto deliver good results in studies

Pfizer and Bristol Myers Squibb's blood thinner apixaban beat aspirin in a study that may open the door to a multi-billion dollar-a-year market to prevent clots. Meanwhile, rival drug Xarelto made by Bayer delivered good results in dissolving potentially clots in the legs as well as preventing new ones--without causing either excessive bleeding or liver problems. Apixaban, a Factor Xa inhibitor, was studied in the double-blind, randomized Averroes trial that recruited 5,600...

Body-clock drug offers breakthrough approach to depression

Scientists in the U.K. say that a CK-1 inhibitor in Pfizer's pipeline was able to reset the body clock in mice, a discovery that has profound implications for developing a new class of drugs that could address everything from jet lag to mental illnesses like depression and bipolar disorder. "We've discovered that we can control one of the key molecules involved in setting the speed at which the clock ticks and in doing so we can actually kick it into a new rhythm," Manchester University's...

Pfizer talks deal strategy as analysts buzz about Sanofi’s next move

Now that Sanofi has started talking numbers with Genzyme regarding a possible acquisition, the biotech world is abuzz about bidding wars and the potential for new M&A deals. Pfizer's CFO, though, made it clear that his company has no wish to get in any contest to acquire Genzyme--or any big biotech developer. Frank D'Amelio's idea of a great deal would come in at several billion dollars--tops--with "bolt-on" acquisitions about the only target of interest. Pfizer's numbers guy also seems...

Pfizer stops two more trials of pain drug tanezumab

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) has been forced to halt two more trials of tanezumab, an experimental biologic for pain. The FDA requested that Pfizer suspend two late-stage trials of the drug in patients with chronic low back pain and painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy. The move comes after the drug giant suspended another trial of the biologic in June. In that study, patients taking the therapy for osteoarthritis saw their condition worsen to the point they required joint...

Can Eisai’s new Alzheimer’s drug fill blockbuster shoes?

Eisai and Pfizer rolled out a new set of clinical trial numbers on their long-acting version of Aricept (donepezil), with the experimental 23 milligram extended-release formulation besting the 10 milligram immediate-release drug that the Japanese company relies on for the lion's share of its U.S. revenue. In a study which enrolled 1,476 patients, researchers said that the once-daily 23 milligram therapy proved more effective in maintaining and improving brain function than the...

Doc sentenced to prison for faking research data

Scott Reuben, a Massachusetts anesthesiologist, has been sentenced to six months in prison for mounting a fake 2007 pain management study for Pfizer's Celebrex. He also has to pay more than $350,000 in restitution to Pfizer and Merck....

Analysts fret over Pfizer’s litany of pipeline snafus

The clock is ticking on Pfizer's final, 18-month countdown on its $11.5 billion Lipitor franchise, but analysts are growing increasing fretful about the pharma giant's ability to find new drugs to fill the looming revenue chasm. On Wednesday Pfizer had to admit that it suspended a slate of osteoarthritis trials after its highly touted pain drug tanezumab--billed as the world's first likely biologic for pain--was linked to potentially perilous safety issues. And that came just two days...

Safety concerns force Pfizer to suspend pain trials

Pfizer can add one more promising experimental drug that has been hobbled by unexpected safety issues. The pharma giant says it has been forced to suspend an ambitious slate of trials of its experimental pain drug tanezumab after patients taking the therapy for osteoarthritis saw their condition worsen to the point they required joint replacement surgery. Pfizer, which only days ago touted "extraordinary" late-stage data for the drug, says that at the request of the FDA its researchers have...

Pivotal test readied for Pfizer’s promising lung cancer drug

Researchers at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center are gearing up for a late-stage trial of Pfizer's crizotinib, preparing a pivotal test to see if the promising therapy can help a unique subgroup of patients with treatment-resistant lung cancer. Scientists want to test how effective the therapy is among patients whose ALK gene has fused with the EML4 gene, which generates a protein that fires up cancer cell growth. About four percent of all patients with non-small cell lung cancer develop the...

Phase III osteoarthritis pain trial is a winner for Pfizer

Pfizer ran the table in a late-stage study of tanezumab, a protein inhibitor that the pharma giant is touting as a leading contender to go on to become the world's first approved biologic for pain. The pharma giant recruited 690 patients for the trial who suffered from chronic knee pain from osteoarthritis but were either unable to take an NSAID pain therapy or its Cox-2 inhibitor Celebrex or didn't benefit sufficiently from the meds. Patients in all three dose groups--2.5 mg, 5 mg and 10...