Abstract

On December 02, 2006, Pfizer Inc. announced that it would discontinue the development of one of its drugs Torcetrapib which is a combination of Torcetrapib and Atorvastatin (Lipitor). This drug was unique because while the other popular statin drugs lowered the level of bad cholesterol called LDL, Torcetrapib increases the level of good cholesterol, called HDL. Torcetrapib was being developed to fill the gap that would be created by Lipitor after the expiry of its US patent protection in 2011. Pfizer also expected the new drug to get approval from FDA. However, as stated by industry analysts, it would take another five years of clinical trials to determine whether the entire CETP drug class was involved or was it only Pfizer’s product. Further stating, analysts said that Pfizer should now focus on lowering costs and filling up the new-drug pipeline with acquisitions and agreements for licensing other companies’ medicines.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

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Keywords

Pfizer Inc., AstraZeneca, Torcetrapib, Atorvastatin, Statin drugs, Cholesterol, Lipitor, HDL, LDL, FDA, Merck, Zithromax, Zoloft, Vioxx, Clinical trials, Heart strokes, Heart attacks, Product liability lawsuits, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Atherosclerosis, CETP, US patent protection, Pipeline, Deaths, Acquisitions, Agreements, Licensing, Medicines, Prescription drug, Competitor