Pfizer: The Impact of Torceptrapib's Failure*

Details

Case Code : CLBS079
Publication date : 2009
Subject : Business Strategy
Industry : -
Length : 03 Pages
Price : Rs. 100

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Key words:

Pfizer Inc., AstraZeneca, Torcetrapib, Atorvastatin, Statin drugs, Cholesterol, Lipitor, HDL, LDL, FDA, Merck, Zithromax, Zoloft, Vioxx, Clinical trials, Heart strokes, Heart attacks, Product liability lawsuits, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Atherosclerosis, CETP, US patent protection, Pipeline, Deaths, Acquisitions, Agreements, Licensing, Medicines, Prescription drug, Competitor

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* This caselet is intended for use only in class discussions.
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Abstract:

On December 02, 2006, Pfizer Inc. announced that it would discontinue the development of one of its drugs Torcetrapib which is a combination of Torcetrapib and Atorvastatin (Lipitor). This drug was unique because while the other popular statin drugs lowered the level of bad cholesterol called LDL, Torcetrapib increases the level of good cholesterol, called HDL. Torcetrapib was being developed to fill the gap that would be created by Lipitor after the expiry of its US patent protection in 2011. Pfizer also expected the new drug to get approval from FDA. However, as stated by industry analysts, it would take another five years of clinical trials to determine whether the entire CETP drug class was involved or was it only Pfizer's product. Further stating, analysts said that Pfizer should now focus on lowering costs and filling up the new-drug pipeline with acquisitions and agreements for licensing other companies' medicines.

Introduction On December 02, 2006, Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer), the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, informed the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it was suspending a Phase 3 clinical trial of its developmental drug torcetrapib. This drug was in the trial stage in combination with atorvastatin (Lipitor) to be used for the treatment of cholesterol. Pfizer had to suspend the trial after it found that deaths in patients who received the combination were 60 percent higher when compared to those who were treated only with atorvastatin...

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