- I don't follow big pharma names like PFE as closely as I do the smaller companies in the BiotechDueDiligence coverage list, but I enjoy the free flowing format at the Goldman Sachs conference, so I thought I would post a few notes.
- See the Past Events page for the webcast link- they are still available as of 7/2/11, but I don't know how much longer that will be the case
- I was hoping to learn about PFE's perspectives on follow-on biologics (FOBs) aka biosimilars/biogenerics, but this topic was not covered at all in the webcast- the presenter was from the Oncology group and the entire discussion centered around cancer therapeutics and R&D.
- See my notes below (these are not a complete transcription by any means, just some highlights):
- PFE had 32 compounds in development in oncology- this was too many.
- Therefore did a review and pruned this to exlcude those w/ complex development paths- try to find new owner or cease development.
- Terminated programs included backups for axitinib and sutent - didn't need 2 more drugs in this category.
- Others had been in p1 for long time w/ no clear move to p2.
- Cancer pipeline reduced to 20 drugs now.
- Example: June 2 out-licensed PF-01367338 PARP inhibitor to Clovis Oncology (click here for PR) - This drug was first in class into clinic, but PARP landscape greatly changed in short time.
- Oncology R&D budget is also significantly down, not as much as 30-40%.
- consortium sequencing- 54% of NSCLC had a driving mutation, then can choose targeted therapy for pts and choose pts for clinical trials
- Philadelphia chromosome was identified in 1960, gleevec drug to target it approved 2001
- ALK fusion prot identified in 2007, PFE filed for Crizotinib approval in 2011
- PFE doesn't need to own a diagnostics company (don't want to acquire outdated technology...stay flexible, go w/ best at that moment, but trade off is having to coordinate w/ external company)
- Have been looking at licensing opportunities, haven't found any yet that would effectively compete for funding vs internal pgms.
- PFe has broad oncology portifolio, no specific gaps to fill
- questioner mentioned: PFE spends roughly $1b per yr on oncology r&d last 5 yrs
- Given demographic trends and progress in CV and heart disease, cancer deaths will increase in absolute numbers in the year ahead
- Crizotonib was brought into clinic as MET inhibitor..broadens population that it can be used in. Have filed in US. Japan, Korea, Switzerland, so could be first MET inhibitor to reach market
- ALK: 8k pts per year in US, 40k worldwide is PFE estimate (most estimates are at about 5% of NSCLC, but study results vary widely on this). This is a larger population than testicular cancer, CML, Hodgkin's disease - aka a small subset of a huge indication.
- Would hope for high penetration in that population with Crizotinib