Pfizer, Torcetrapib, and HDL: The Dangers of Presuming To Know.

Posted on | January 12, 2011 | Comments Off on Pfizer, Torcetrapib, and HDL: The Dangers of Presuming To Know.

Mike Magee

In June 2006, I was meeting privately with a member of Pfizer’s executive leadership team when he shared with me two bits of information that resurfaced in my conciousness today. The first was offered as a bit of coaching (more political than scientific) but has broader application: “Mike, don’t ever presume that you know fully what is going on in another human being.” The second was, “Pfizer will rise or fall on the results of the Torcetrapib trial”.

What made me recall that conversation was an artcle in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine titled “Cholesterol Efflux Capacity, High Densisty Lipoprotein Function, and Atherosclerosis”. (1) In it A.K. Khera and his co-authors begin to unravel the mystery of the failure of torcetrapib on December 2, 2006. That was the day that Pfizer cut off torcetrapib’s trial because of “an imbalance of mortality and cardiovascular events” associated with its use.In the initial data, the company uncovered a 60% increase in deaths among patients taking torcetrapib and atorvastatin (Lipitor) versus taking atorvastatin alone.(2,3)

To say this was a shock to Pfizer, with patent expirations of major blockbusters fast approaching, doesn’t even begin to describe the impact of this finding on the company. (CONTINUE…..)