Pfizer pharmaceuticals news

At an analyst meeting, Pfizer announced targets for pipeline growth but also acknowledged it needed to manage its cost-structure and "to size the company appropriately" to offset the loss of patent exclusivity for Lipitor atorvastatin. The patent for the cholesterol drug expires in 2010. Pfizer said it expects to start 15-20 Phase III trials by the end of 2009 and to submit 15-20 regulatory applications in 2010-12.

Pfizer said it has focused its resources on "high-value" disease areas, including cancer, pain, diabetes/obesity, immunology/inflammation, schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease (AD). It also is dropping 24 clinical and preclinical programs, including a Phase III program for Lyrica pregabalin to treat generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in the U.S., as well as 13 compounds in Phase II development and nine in Phase I testing. ...