Pfizer Streamlines and Prioritizes Pipeline

Pfizer’s (New York) first updated pipeline since its acquisition of Wyeth (Madison, NJ) includes fewer projects than before and is targeted to specific diseases. After the acquisition, the companies’ combined pipeline had 600 projects, but the number has been reduced to about 500. The new development pipeline, which includes both companies’ projects, includes 133 programs from Phase I through registration.

Approximately 70% of Pfizer’s research projects and 75% of the late-stage portfolio are focused on six “Invest to Win” areas of research, which include oncology, pain, inflammation, Alzheimer’s disease, psychoses, and diabetes.

The updated pipeline also emphasizes vaccines and biologics, and this focus is consistent with Pfizer’s goal of becoming a leading biopharmaceutical manufacturer by 2015. The number of vaccines in the company’s pipeline has increased from one to six since the last pipeline update in March 2009. Pfizer now has 27 biologics in development, an increase from the 16 in development in March 2009.

“This pipeline of investigational medicines represents the strong future of Pfizer,” said Martin Mackay, president of Pfizer’s PharmaTherapeutics Research and Development, in a Jan. 27, 2010 press release. “Since the closing of the Wyeth transaction late last year, we have made strategic decisions about our research and development resources, global footprint, and high-priority projects. Our focus now turns to delivery of these health solutions for patients around the world.”

Pfizer’s updated pipeline includes the following projects:

• 30 oncology compounds such as PF-02341066 for the treatment of nonsmall cell lung cancer and axitinib for lung, gastrointestinal, thyroid, and breast cancer and renal-cell carcinoma
• 10 compounds to treat Alzheimer’s disease, including Latrepirdine (Dimebon), a collaboration between Pfizer and Medivation (San Francisco), and bapineuzumab, a collaboration between Pfizer and Janssen (Titusville, NJ)
• Eight compounds to treat pain, including tanezumab, an injectable biotherapeutic compound that targets nerve-growth factor
• 11 compounds to treat inflammation, including tasocitinib (CP-690,550) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis
• Six vaccines and 27 biologics, including Prevnar 13, a vaccine designed to prevent pneumococcal disease in infants and young children.

See related articles:
Implications of the Pending Pfizer-Wyeth Mega Merger (PT Sourcing and Management)

Pink Slips and Pipelines (blog post)