Pfizer Terminates Two Phase III Programs

Pfizer is terminating Phase III development programs for the investigational compounds esreboxetine for fibromyalgia and PD 332,334 for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), following a review of the development and commercial portfolios in the Primary Care Business Unit. According to the company, the decision will enable that unit to “allocate additional resources to higher-potential development programs.”

After reviewing the Phase III results for PD 332,334 in GAD and the existing data for esreboxetine for the treatment of fibromyalgia, the company considered it unlikely that either drug would provide meaningful benefit to patients beyond the current standard of care. Neither compound was terminated due to safety reasons.

“While confident in the safety of these compounds, we don’t believe that they provide significant benefit over other therapies,” said Pedro Lichtinger, president and general manager, Pfizer’s Primary Care Business Unit.

He continued, “In Primary Care, we continually review our portfolio to ensure we are developing medicines in areas of unmet need and have found significant potential opportunities to bring more value to patients and our company. For example, we are advancing the investigational compound tanezumab into areas of pain management beyond osteoarthritis and see potential opportunities for other investigational compounds in other areas of significant patient need, including Alzheimer’s disease and thrombosis. Our goal is to use our resources efficiently and effectively to continue to deliver medical innovations to the global health community.”