Pfizer Inc. reviewed strategies to accelerate and refocus Pfizer's pipeline and capture new opportunities for global growth at a meeting for investment analysts. "We have made real changes in how we operate our business â in our structure, culture and leadership â so that we have a much stronger foundation in place for pursuing the many opportunities before us," said Chairman and CEO Jeff Kindler.
"We are delivering and accelerating our pipeline, and we will seize promising growth opportunities spanning geographies, therapeutic areas and products."
Kindler and his leadership team outlined their growth strategies including optimizing Pfizer's patent-protected portfolio; generating revenue opportunities from established products; accelerating growth in emerging markets; focusing on continuous improvement and innovation; and investing in complementary businesses.
"2008 marks the start of a multi-year period of increased productivity," said Dr. Martin Mackay, president of Pfizer Global Research & Development. "We have made strategic decisions to focus internally and externally on high-value disease areas and to expedite compounds in our pipeline that will meet the future needs of patients and drive revenue growth."
Throughout this year and the next, the Company anticipates a strong flow of medicines progressing from Phase II to Phase III. Pfizer expects:
- a total of 15 to 20 Phase III starts by the end of 2009 in disease areas ranging from cancer, to diabetes, to pain;
- to grow the number of Phase III programs by 50 to 75 percent, to at least 24 â and as many as 28 - by December 2009, up from 16 today; and
- 15-20 regulatory submissions between 2010 and 2012.
Pfizer announced that three key compounds expected to move to Phase III illustrate its commitment to finding innovative ways to address areas of high patient need: CP-751871, an IGF-1R inhibitor for the treatment of gastrointestinal, genitourinary, lung and breast cancer; CP-690550, our JAK-3 inhibitor for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, transplant rejection, psoriasis, Crohn's disease, and asthma; and PF-734200, our DPP-IV inhibitor for the treatment of diabetes.
Pfizer has improved R&D productivity in the way it identifies the compounds most likely to succeed and has focused its resources on high-value areas. These high-value disease areas - including oncology, pain, diabetes/obesity, immunology/inflammation, schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease - represent areas of significant unmet medical need and/or high market growth potential, and/or areas where Pfizer may be first or best in class. The Company is also accelerating clinical development on 20 programs in disease areas such as arthritis, cancer, pain and diabetes. It is also ending work on 24 clinical and preclinical programs so it can reinvest in high-value areas.
Pfizer continues to supplement its internal R&D efforts with the best external science to help deliver a high-value pipeline of new medicines. Through the execution of new business development deals, Pfizer added 7 clinical candidates, including 4 biologics, in 2007 in prioritized disease areas. The Company has expanded its venture capital activity and its early stage product investment strategy, including the establishment of the Biotherapeutics and Bioinnovation Center (BBC) based in California. The Company currently has 26 biologics spanning 8 therapeutic areas and has set the goal of becoming a top-tier biotherapeutics company.
Pfizer scientists described the Company's strengths in researching and developing pain medicines, a $45 billion market with significant unmet medical need. They reviewed 13 programs across a spectrum of pain conditions, including 9 new molecular entities. This group includes three Phase III programs, valuable potential new indications for market-leaders Celebrex and Lyrica, and trials of S,S reboxetine for fibromyalgia. In addition, Pfizer's nine pain compounds in development include the monoclonal antibody PF-4383119, and the p38 kinase inhibitor PH-797804, both designed to treat pain by regulating the inflammatory process.
Pfizer updated its development pipeline, which is posted on www.pfizer.com