Why Pfizer didn't report that its rheumatoid arthritis medicine can fight Alzheimer's

robnplunder said:
Summary - Pfizer found clues that its rheumatoid arthritis drug can prevent Alzheimer's but decided not to pursue it further b/c of business reasons (can't turn profit?).
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Looks like the drug was about to go out of patent anyway, so even if the clinical trial had been successful, people would have been taking the generic version.

This may be an example of why NIH should fund large-scale clinical trials at the stage where it would normally be the drug companies taking a "speculate to accumulate" decision.
 
DH has been on Enbrel/Humira for many years due to Psoriatic Arthritis. Think of having to give yourself a shot in the leg every week. And the shots costs thousands of dollars. These drugs have many bad side effects (for example, catching the flu often, getting shingles over and over, etc) so it is great that they may have a positive side effect--reduced chance of Alzheimers--now that is huge.
 
Robnplunder, thanks for sharing. It is indeed a very complicated scenario that is indicative of current healthcare full of multifaceted viewpoints.
 
Yes, thanks. I wish the piece gave more information. Given the huge market value of even a partially effective treatment for AD, it would seem worth pursuing. I would think Pfizer could come up with some patentable derivative of Enbrel specific to Alzheimer treatment (with a paired adjunct medication in the formula, etc). These companies are masters at this, so their reasons for not doing it (legal/pharmacological, etc) would make interesting reading.
The good news is that the Enbrel/Alzheimer's link is now public and will get a lot of scrutiny. And, with the med itself coming off of patent protection, maybe whatever comes of it won't be super expensive.
Related:. The apparrent protective role of NSAIDs wrt Alzheimer's was news to me. I'll look into that, maybe yet another reason to stay on the 81mg/day aspirin.
 
samclem said:
Yes, thanks. I wish the piece gave more information. Given the huge market value of even a partially effective treatment for AD, it would seem worth pursuing. I would think Pfizer could come up with some patentable derivative of Enbrel specific to Alzheimer treatment (with a paired adjunct medication in the formula, etc).
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DM was diagnosed with AD so I am personally interested what happens here. Perhaps, another company hungrier than Pfizer can pick up the effort. One hopes.
 
robnplunder said:
DM was diagnosed with AD so I am personally interested what happens here. Perhaps, another company hungrier than Pfizer can pick up the effort. One hopes.
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This very small study published in 2008 indicated Enbril might have some utility against AD, and presumably the effect was known/suspected before then (else what prompted the study?). This was over a decade ago, with plenty of time left on the patent. The three most likely explanations, it seems to me, are:
1) Pfizer dithered around and didn't jump through trials needed to gain FDA approval
or
2) They discovered disconfirming information--Enbril isn't really effective.
or
3) They have another drug in the pipeline for AD that they think is patentable.

If they are really shutting down their neurological division, then 3) seems unlikely.
Anyway, I hope something does come of it.
Best wishes for your mom and the whole family.
 
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