Pfizer announced WSJ: Pfizer Plans to Abandon Heart-Drug Development that they are giving up on the Cardiovascular business and no longer developing compounds in cardiovascular disease, instead focusing on oncology and other areas.
This is quite a statement coming from Pfizer, given the long history in cardiovascular disease with block busters in the last ten years such as Norvasc, Caudura, Viagra, Acupril and Lipitor. Pfizer was a CV power house, and they bought Warner Lambert just so they could get even bigger in CV, and now they leave the field. (amazing)
Admittedly Pfizer has a huge problem with their labs, there have been no CV drugs developed since Viagra, but Pfizer has been very good at licensing CV compounds and selling them like no one else could.
This must be a shock to BMS their partner on oral anti-clotting therapy—apixaban, that they would be abandoning the space, but perhaps this is not the end, and they are just giving up on development, which is not their strong suite.
This probably explains some of their high minded proclamations (i.e. we don’t have any money to spend so let’s blame it on everyone else).
Even though they are leaving their presence will be missed.