Pfizer Presents Fertile Pipeline

US company Pfizer has become the latest pharmaceutical major to reveal a strong drug pipeline and optimistic forecasts to the end of the century and beyond.

Presenting a summary of company activities in research and development at a recent meeting for analysts and guests, Pfizer officials put claim to business expectations that include the roll-out of 17 New Chemical Entities by 2001 and the finalization of plans for 10 major supplemental filings for additional indications for already-available Pfizer drugs in the near future. In addition, company representatives reported 45 candidates in early clinical development, more than ever in Pfizer's history, and five line extensions in the last stage of regulatory review.

Executive vice president for R&D, John Niblack, described how Pfizer had an unprecedented opportunity to roll-out multiple waves of product launches before patents on its marketed products expire. "Of the six major new products on the market [Cardura (doxazosin), Procardia XL (nifedipine), Zoloft (sertraline), Norvasc (amlodipine), Zithromax (azthromycin) and Diflucan (fluconazole)], only Cardura, a selective alpha blocker for the treatment of hypertension, will go off patent by 2003." The company believes a second wave of NCEs could be on the market within a few years followed by a third early in the next decade.