Pfizer Loses 725 Million Dollars

BERN – Swiss pharmaceutical giant Pfizer halted the research and production of a medication it had previously claimed was a ‘cure’ for Alzheimer disease.

But now the company has come forth saying that recent tests of its ‘wonder drug Dimebon’ have proven the medicine doesn’t work and the company has stopped all research and development of the drug, thereby losing the 725 million dollars Pfizer had already invested in Dimebon.

Pfizer said in a statement that the 2011 results of the drug’s final testing phase were worse than expected.

“For an entire year we searched for another solution but now we’ve decided to end it. It’s sad because the first results were very encouraging,” said a spokesperson for the company.

This news is yet another blow for Alzheimer’s patients who have already been told several times prior that once promising anti-Alzheimer medications have been cancelled and taken off the market.

According to Alzheimer’s experts, the pharmaceutical world is still far away from developing a medicine that cures the dreaded brain illness.

Dimebon was developed in Russia in the 1980s to treat hay fever. Doctors discovered that patients who took the medicine three times a day were also able to think clearer.

The American company Medivation owned Dimebon. It looked towards Pfizer for financial support and skilled scientists to develop the medicine further.

The first test phase of the drug was performed on 183 Alzheimer patients and offered very promising results. Further tests however proved to be less positive.

Pfizer said it is equally saddened to have to halt to research and future development of Dimebon but added that finding cure for Alzheimer’s Disease will continue and is still an intricate part of its business.

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