Giant pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced a breakthrough that gives sufferers of pancreatic cancer hope. The company’s drug called Sutent showed remarkable results in a late-phase clinical trial. The drug helped reduce the progression of pancreatic cancer in the patients who are part of the trial. 

 

Even Pfizer was surprised by the results. Sutent’s effects were so powerful that the New York-based company decided to end the trial and offer patients a placebo Sutent instead. Pfizer took that decision under the recommendation of an independent data monitoring committee due to the fact that Sutent caused the patients who took it to witness a halt of the disease's progression for longer than those receiving a placebo and other supportive treatment. 

 

”We are delighted by these findings,” said Dr. Mace Rothenberg, Pfizer's senior VP of medical development and clinical affairs. The findings, said Rothenberg, “demonstrate that Sutent provides a benefit for patients with advanced well-differentiated pancreatic islet cell tumors--a rare cancer with limited treatment options." 

 

Sutent has been marketed for treatment of renal cell carcinoma (kidney) and intestinal tumors so far and earned Pfizer about $850 million in sales in 2008. The company plans to extend the drug’s treatment capabilities to advanced forms of cancers in breast, lungs, colon, and prostate. 

 

On the background of the good news, Pfizer stock price had a day that reminded the company’s heads of the good days when they launched Viagra. Pfizer shares were up by $1.23, or 9.6%, at $14.02, in Thursday’s session. However, this increase comes after the company lost about 30 percent of its value since Pfizer merged with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in January.