Pfizer refocusing drug development pipeline

Pfizer Inc. is thinning out its drug pipeline, but the changes will have no effect on the local employment picture, the company said Wednesday.

The pharmaceutical giant, which has major research-and-development sites in Groton and New London, said it is dropping about 100 potential new medicines to focus on 500 drugs that appear to be the most promising. Many of the drugs the company decided to drop were inherited when Pfizer completed its $67 billion purchase of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals last fall.

About 70 percent of the new portfolio - and three-quarters of the late-stage pipeline - is focused on Pfizer's "Invest to Win" strategy of emphasizing six distinct research areas: cancer, psychoses, diabetes, pain, inflammation and Alzheimer's.

Most of the discontinued programs were in the preclinical stage, meaning the drugs had not yet been tried in humans. Eleven later-stage programs ended because of natural attrition, and Pfizer halted eight others as result of strategic decisions about where best to invest R&D money.

Pfizer spokeswoman Liz Power said scientists whose projects have ended simply are moving onto other programs.

"This has no headcount association," Power said. "Researchers in Groton play an important role in advancing our invest-to-win areas."

Two of Groton's research units - neuroscience and CVMED (cardiovascular, metabolic and endocrine disorders - focus on the company's top drug priorities. Neuroscience investigates targets for Alzheimer's and schizophrenia, while CVMED looks at possible diabetes medications.

Groton also has an antibacterials group, which targets infections and drug-resistant bacteria.

Pfizer has 133 drugs in its pipeline being tested on humans, compared with 100 last year. Sixty-three programs advanced from one stage of the pipeline to another in the past year, compared with only 21 last year.

New York-based Pfizer does not reveal anything about compounds in the earliest stages of development because of competitive reasons.

"This pipeline of investigational medicines represents the strong future of Pfizer," said Martin Mackay, president of the company's PharmaTherapeutics Research and Development division, in a statement.

Pfizer has suffered a series of blows to its pipeline in recent years as promising medicines failed in late-stage studies. Concern has mounted about the failures, especially in light of the loss of patent protection for Pfizer's leading medicine - the cholesterol fighter Lipitor - by late next year.

Pfizer's pipeline update - the first since its acquisition of Wyeth - shows that 34 new or existing drugs are in the final phase of development in treating various diseases and six have been submitted for regulatory approval. The existing drugs in late-stage development all target a different condition than the one for which they had been previously approved.

The overall portfolio has 30 drugs targeting cancer, 10 focusing on Alzheimer's disease, eight aimed at pain and 11 fighting inflammation. In addition, Wyeth's acquisition has doubled Pfizer's offerings in the areas of vaccines and biologics, with a total of 33 such therapies now in development.

"Pfizer will continue to prioritize its portfolio in order to direct resources to projects in areas of unmet medical need and market opportunity, where Pfizer has potential to gain competitive advantage and leadership," said Power, the company spokeswoman.

l.howard@theday.com