Replies to post #105391 on Biotech Values

[mcbio]

Re: PFE/Tanezumab

Some researchers are suggesting that an experimental Pfizer drug may have liberated arthritis sufferers to such a degree that they became more physically active — and that the subsequent wear and tear on their joints led to joint replacement surgery.

Do you buy this hypothesis? Either way, wouldn't it be difficult for PFE to definitively prove the hypothesis to the ever so safety conscious FDA?

[turtlepower]

Here's an interesting point:

For more than half of the 16 patients, worsening arthritis and the need for surgery occurred in a joint other than the one originally targeted in the study, the researchers said. One patient developed a problem in the shoulder, an uncommon location for damage from osteoarthritis.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-29/pfizer-arthritis-drug-cut-pain-too-well-leading-to-joint-damage-in-study.html

If the other joints were in a better condition than the targeted joint I think it does support the theory that tanezumab has a good pain masking ability which led to joint deterioration.

[biomaven0]

>>tanezumab

Here's the editorial:

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe1004416?query=TOC