Pfizer abandons development of two experimental drugs following poor study results
By Heidi Vogt / AP Business Writer
NEW YORK — Pfizer Inc. said Friday that it is abandoning development of two experimental drugs after they posted poor trial results — an HIV therapy that was in advanced studies and a treatment for asthma and lung disease that the company was developing with Germany’s Altana AG.
Altana’s American depositary shares tumbled more than 16 percent to a two year low of $47.70 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, Pfizer shares fell 54 cents, or 2 percent, to $27.04.
Pfizer said it dropped the capravirine HIV drug because two studies failed to show that it significantly helped patients. Specifically, the drug did not boost the effectiveness of standard triple-drug HIV therapies in patients who had failed to respond to available antiretroviral therapies, the New York-based drug maker said.
The company will return rights to the compound to its developer, Shionogi & Co. of Japan.
Pfizer is left with one HIV treatment in late-stage studies, a drug called maraviroc that is designed to block HIV from entering cells.
Separately, Pfizer ended a collaboration with Altana on its Daxas drug, a treatment for asthma and a lung disorder that is usually caused by smoking. Altana said early Friday that while the drug significantly improved lung function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, it did not reduce the accompanying shortness of breath or lasting cough. The company had set both of these measures as primary targets.
Pfizer spokesman Stephen Lederer said the company is not commenting on its reason for dissolving the partnership. The company is returning all rights to Daxas to Bad Homburg-based Altana, which said it will continue development and foresees no delay in U.S. clinical trials of the therapy.
“We are confident to have an investigational medicine with blockbuster potential,” Hans-Joachim Lohrisch, the head of Altana’s pharmaceuticals unit, said in a conference call. He said the company has a “strong financial basis to do it alone” but may look for another partner later in the development process.
Last year, Altana delayed its application for U.S. approval of Daxas, and said slow patient recruitment was hampering the process. A number of similar products are currently in development by rivals and there is competition for patients for the necessary trials.
Lederer said Pfizer has not disclosed any other treatments in its pipeline for the lung disorder.
“Pfizer does have a huge and growing pipeline,” Lederer said. “When we last gave an update we talked about 222 development programs … and it’s grown by 20 percent in two to three years.
“You do expect some of those to not reach the market, but this is a risky business.”
Source: The Detroit News Health
