Pfizer halts late-stage study into new Lyrica use

Hot on the heels of a report a few weeks ago about a baby being "functionally cured" of HIV, a new study by researchers at the Institute Pasteur indicate that this same result could be attained for 10 percent of patients.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Takeda Pharmaceutical Co, Japan's biggest drugmaker, said on Monday it will stop distributing 13 Pfizer Inc drugs it now sells in Japan at the end of this year and Pfizer itself will begin selling them from 2013. The 13 drugs include antibiotic Minomycin, anticancer agents Torisel and Mylotarg, and depression treatment Amoxan. The list did not include Viagra. Takeda said it will continue to distribute Prevenar, a pneumococcus vaccine for children, and the haemophilia B drug BeneFIX. It also said it and Pfizer will continue to work together on the arthritis drug Enbrel. ...

TRENTON, N.J. — Men who are bashful about needing help in the bedroom no longer have to go to the drugstore to buy that little blue pill. In a first for the drug industry, Pfizer Inc. told The Associated Press that the drugmaker will begin selling its popular erectile dysfunction pill Viagra directly to patients on its website.

Researchers believe that there will be a breakthrough in finding a cure for HIV “within months”. Danish scientists are expecting results that will show that “finding a mass-distributable and affordable cure to HIV is possible”.

ByStock Maelstrom:Eli Lilly (LLY) and Kowa Pharmaceuticals (KPA) together announced that Livalo, a cholesterol reducing drug has better effects than the alternative treatment, pr

ByStock Maelstrom:Pfizer (PFE) conducted an advanced study into the effects of its drug Lyrica, demonstrating that it is as effective as levetiracetam, Pfizer's own anti-seizure drug. Levetiracetam has been used to treat epilepsy in adults going through refractory epilepsy.

By Trefis: As 2012 nears its end, we find it prudent to take a look at what happened to the pharmaceutical companies currently under our coverage in 2012, and what to expect from them in 2013. Despite several major patent expiries, 2012 has been a great year for drugmakers as they witnessed a sharp run up in their stock prices.

Just a few weeks after CEO Ian Read roused speculation that Pfizer might reverse its long-term philosophy of “bigger is better” – a mantra nea