Drug Drop Slams Pfizer

The massive 15,000-patient test that triggered Pfizer's decision this past weekend pitted the combination pill against Lipitor to determine if the combined drug reduced the risk of heart attacks and heart disease. The trial also compared strokes and the need for patients to undergo heart bypass surgery or to receive stents.

Major Setback

CEO Jeffrey Kindler called the results "surprising and disappointing." Pfizer terminated its research in "the best interests of patients and making sure all this information is communicated to appropriate medical and regulatory authorities as quickly as possible," he said in a prepared statement.

"We understand the challenge that this represents and we will respond quickly and aggressively to it," Kindler added. "It is important to put this information in the context of both our commitment to transform Pfizer and our overall product and financial strength."

Pfizer reaffirmed its financial guidance for 2007 and 2008. Revenue in each of those years will be "comparable" to this year's revenue, the company said.

Average earnings-per-share growth, excluding special items, will be in the 'high-single digits' for those years, Pfizer added. But Torcetrapib hadn't played a role in the company's calculations for 2007 and 2008.

"This is, of course, a major setback for Pfizer," says Sagient Research Systems, a San Diego-based firm that tracks drug developments. Sagient, which doesn't own shares of Pfizer or have an investment banking relationship with the drugmaker, had forecast that torcetrapib would have achieved a peak of $5 billion in annual sales in the U.S.