Pfizer last week held a roundtable conference to allay worries about its anti-smoking drug Chantix. Chantix had been one of Pfizer's strongest drugs up until recently (as you can see in the graphic.) To remind readers, ever since the FAA banned pilots from using Chantix due to possible suicidal side effects there has been more scrutiny concerning the drug than ever before. The WSJ reports that during the conference Pfizer focused on:
-1 Smoking is a serious health problem that kills people.What Pfizer is essentially doing is getting really defensive about a drug that used to have the greatest amount of potential. ( What does Pfizer rely on now? ) This is not unlike what Amgen was seen doing with regards to Epogen, and we all know how that turned out. See "Amgen: the Future"
-2 Most of the adverse events that have been reported recently are already in the Chantix label.
-3 Smokers who are trying to quit can be depressed and irritable.
-4 Paying close attention to adverse-event reports helps the FDA and Pfizer enhance drug safety.
At first glance it makes complete sense for Pfizer to explain to people that many of these adverse neuropsychological side effects that are appearing are actually characteristic of smoking itself. Thus, you can't really say if its Chantix that is causing the side effects or if its simply the smoking. And further proof to that fact is that the 1000 or so cases that have recently been reported represent a very small overall percentage of those who are actually taking Chantix. Thus, it is not likely that Chantix is directly causing anything.
But as BNET points out:
Pfizer, it turns out, excluded smokers with mental problems from its original studies, and for the justifiable reason that it didn’t want pre-existing issues to obscure the drug’s potential benefits in healthy people.If they excluded certain types of people from the clinical trials, then how can they say that these people are okay to use Chantix now? I hope some day that Medical Direct Martina Flammer will explain this to me in light of her recent comments.
Pfizer Inc. said Thursday it believes its anti-smoking drug Chantix, which has been linked to depression and suicidal thoughts, can be prescribed to patients with mental illness.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Pfizer Senior Medical Director Dr. Martina Flammer, who is also the medical team leader for Chantix, said that patients with a history of mental illness who are considering taking Chantix should let their doctors know of their condition.
But, "there is no indication that there is any reason why Chantix should not be taken in this population," Flammer said.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/06/05/ap5086965.html
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