Pfizer’s new cost-saving agenda will see five pipeline programs in oncology, rare disease and immunology packed off to the graveyard.
Three of the terminated programs are phase 1 oncology assets, according to Pfizer’s online product pipeline, which was updated on October 31. First up in the discard pile is PF-06647020, a non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) biologic that was assessed in an early-stage trial of 138 patients that read out in 2019, according to ClinicalTrials.gov.
Another NSCLC hopeful, the CD47-PD-L1 bispecific antibody PF-07257876 is being terminated days after a phase 1 study of 28 patients with selected advanced or metastatic tumors wrapped Oct. 24, according to ClinicalTrials.gov. Evidently, Pfizer didn’t like what it saw and tossed the bispecific in the bin.
The last early-stage cancer med to get the boot is PF-07265028, a small molecule candidate designed for patients with solid tumors. In a trial with a primary completion date set for 2026, PF-07265028 was being studied as monotherapy and in combination with Pfizer’s investigational monoclonal antibody sasanlimab.
Moving on to the midstage rejects is a rare disease candidate and eczema and psoriasis asset. The phase 2 study testing out PF-06730512 for patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis—which is scar tissue in the kidney—was terminated due to lack of efficacy at the end of 2022, according to ClinicalTrials.gov.
Lastly is PF-07038124, a small molecule candidate that was tested out in patients with atopic dermatitis (eczema) and psoriasis. The phase 2b study wrapped up this summer after testing out the ointment in 264 patients.
The culls come shortly after the Big Pharma announced a multi-year, enterprise-wide cost realignment program that aims to save at least $3.5 billion as COVID revenues nose-dive. Just yesterday, Pfizer announced that it will be shuttering a New Jersey facility early next year, a company spokesperson told Fierce Pharma. While a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification listing shows that 791 positions are affected, the "vast majority" of workers will be reassigned to Pfizer's New York headquarters, the spokesperson said.
The cuts follow earlier layoffs in Illinois and Colorado and plans to close two North Carolina facilities.