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Pfizer had clues its blockbuster drug could prevent Alzheimer’s but kept it secret

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Posted 6/5/2019 12:01 PM (GMT 0)
https://www.statesman.com/zz/news/20190604/pfizer-had-clues-its-blockbuster-drug-could-prevent-alzheimers-but-kept-it-secret

Interesting article about Pfizer and how drug companies work. I can see it from the business side but feel the frustration from this side as well.
Posted 6/5/2019 2:25 PM (GMT 0)
Interesting read. The cynic in me wants to say Pfizer figures if they can’t make money from it, nobody should.
Posted 6/5/2019 6:14 PM (GMT 0)
As the patent on this drug expires, so does Pfizer's interest in sponsoring a big clinical trial..
But other international pharmaceutical companies , not restricted by the need for clinical trials, will market this drug as a Alzheimer's treatment and let the public as a whole decide whether it's effective or not..The MARKET will decide whether it works or not...Informal ? Yes, but usually quick and effective. When patients demand PROOF that it works, trials will be held, funded by the revenue streams already in place..

An example might be Zytiga (Abiraterone Acetate). While stateside patients continue to pay exorbitant prices for this drug, the rest of the world now has several generic choices available to them at much lower cost...Same story with Viagra which enjoys a HUGE market.
Posted 6/5/2019 8:08 PM (GMT 0)
Unlikely that such off-label marketing will occur unless Medicare approves the reimbursement of it for that use. Plus most docs won’t use it off label without very good data due to liability issues. Enbrel costs about $5,000 per year now. We are seeing many generics charging nearly as much as the patent drugs in many cases, so there is no guarantee that the generic price will be greatly reduced.

Clinical trials are very expensive and take many years under our current system. Fact of life. If it really is good for dementia then with documented use and efficacy Medicare could approve it as they have other off label uses. but that is also a long and expensive slog and doesn’t come about based on a newspaper article.
Posted 6/6/2019 12:23 AM (GMT 0)
Not so secret anymore!
The story also reports that Pfizer recently closed its neurology division (and laid off 300 people) where Alzheimer's was (or would have been) a study subject.

Hopefully, the hypothesis that an immunological approach might ultimately provide a way to prevent Alzheimer's will continue to be studied.

Post Edited (Sr Sailor) : 6/5/2019 7:28:01 PM (GMT-6)

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