BBC, 10
January 2018
 |
| Pfizer's decision will affect research into drugs for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease |
Drug
company Pfizer has announced it is pulling out of research into drugs to treat
Alzheimer's disease.
The
US-based pharmaceutical giant said it would be ending its neuroscience
discovery programmes following a review, and 300 jobs would be lost.
The
Alzheimer's Society called the news "disappointing" and a "heavy
blow" to those living with dementia.
Companies
should be encouraged to invest in research into neuroscience, Alzheimer's
Research UK said.
The move
means Pfizer will also stop looking for treatments for Parkinson's disease, but
the company said it planned to create a new fund dedicated to neuroscience
research in the future.
A statement
from the company said: "We have made the decision to end our neuroscience
discovery and early development efforts and re-allocate funding to those areas
where we have strong scientific leadership and that will allow us to provide
the greatest impact for patients."
Complex
brain
Prof Tara
Spire-Jones, a neuroscientist at Edinburgh University, told the Today programme
on BBC Radio 4 that despite the decision, there was still a lot of hope.
"Not
all pharmaceutical companies are pulling out and there are over 100 clinical trials
at the moment.
"There
is a lot going on in the basic science - we need to understand the complexity
of the brain."
She said
Pfizer's decision was understandable because of the failure rate of clinical
trials.
"More
than 99% of trials for Alzheimer's drugs have failed in past 15 years.
"So
companies are justifiably cautious, but we are making great advances on the
scientific front."
Prof
Spire-Jones added: "We've learned from these failures of trials that we
need to take a step back and understand brain changes.
"At
the moment we don't fully understand how memory and thinking work fully in a
healthy brain."
Pharmaceutical
companies including Novartis, Janssen, Biogen, Abbvie and Eli Lilly are still
developing medicines to treat Alzheimer's disease and a spokesman for the ABPI
(Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry) said they continued
"to make progress in unravelling the complexities of the brain and
identifying the underpinnings of the disease".
Dr James
Pickett, head of research at Alzheimer's Society, said: "Of course it's
disappointing to hear that Pfizer, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical
companies, will be terminating their research efforts in neuroscience,
including Alzheimer's disease drug discovery.
"The
brain is the most complex organ in the body and developing drugs to treat brain
diseases is a tremendous challenge, but with no new drug for dementia in the
last 15 years, this will come as a heavy blow to the estimated 46.8 million
people currently living with the condition across the globe."
Long-term
commitment
The
Alzheimer's Society said it had committed £50m to fund new research at the UK
Dementia Research Institute alongside Alzheimer's Research UK and the Medical
Research Council.
Dr Matthew
Norton, director of policy at Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "We hope that
pharmaceutical companies will look at the long-term potential when deciding
whether to participate in this effort.
"It is
vital that all of us - charities, government and industry alike - make
long-term commitments to dementia research if we are to bring an end to the
fear, harm and heartbreak of dementia."
Currently,
about 850,000 people in the UK have a form of dementia.
One million
people are predicted to be living with the condition by 2021, and this could
rise to two million by 2051.
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