Neurontin, an epilepsy drug for everything
Peter C. Gøtzsche in Deadly Medicines and Organised Crime, 2019
In 2004, Pfizer agreed to plead guilty to two felonies and pay $430 million to settle charges that it fraudulently promoted the epilepsy drug Neurontin for unapproved uses. A drug index, Drugdex, listed no less than 48 off-label uses for Neurontin, and Medicaid was obliged to pay for the drug if being prescribed for one of these uses. Doctors were also paid to lend their names to ghostwritten articles purporting to show that Neurontin worked for unapproved conditions, and a professor requested and received over $300 000 to write a book on epilepsy. The company even insisted on pressing doctors to use much higher doses of Neurontin than those that had been approved, which means higher income for more harm. Pfizer even recognised that unblinding due to adverse events could result in corruption of the study’s validity.
The Swedish medical discourse
Ericka Johnson, Ebba Sjögren, Cecilia Åsberg in Glocal Pharma, 2016
This chapter examines how men, their doctors and their partners are enrolled by the Pfizer-sponsored website for potential Swedish Viagra customers. The global and the local become relevant in the chapter when the empirical material is read against the framework of regulations regarding DTC marketing of pharmaceuticals. It details the challenge of encouraging men to buy Viagra has been met on the website in part by enrolling men, their doctors and their partners in the ways. In analyzing the text and images on this site, one have been inspired by the critical studies of Viagra mentioned earlier in the chapter as well as Foucault's idea of an economy of discourses about sexuality. In Sweden, Viagra has been available by prescription since its approval in 1998, but, like the similar drugs Cialis and Levitra, it is not covered by the national subsidy programme for medicines.
Drugs That Treat Sexual Dysfunction
Robert B. Raffa, Patricia J. Bush, Albert I. Wertheimer in How Prescription and Over-the-Counter Drugs Affect Sexual Performance, 2021
The blockbuster drug Viagra was originally developed in 1989 by Peter Dunn and Albert Wood at Pfizer as an antihypertensive that could possibly treat angina, or chest pain, which occurs when the vasculature serving the thoracic cavity constricts and blood flow is markedly reduced. Dunn and Wood sought to develop a new heart medication that would relax blood vessels and improve blood flow. In popular stories, it is often claimed that the scientists at Pfizer had no idea about the drug’s side effects or its potential to improve sexual performance, but that is not entirely correct. In fact, the scientists working on this new heart drug had already found out that vasodilatation occurred throughout the body and that the drug they were working on, sildenafil citrate, might have other applications including improving blood flow to the penis, and could therefore treat erectile dysfunction.
Synthesis by microbes or chemists? Pharmaceutical research and manufacturing in the antibiotic era
Published in History and Technology, 2009
This article presents a case study of the rise of Pfizer as a leading pharmaceutical company, with a focus on changing relationships between manufacturing technology and R&D between the mid 1940s and the mid 1960s. Pfizer first moved into pharmaceuticals through participation in the US government's penicillin effort during World War II. The company had expertise in deep tank, biological fermentation for the production of chemicals that it adapted to the manufacture of penicillin. Having greatly expanded its biological manufacturing capacity to meet state needs, Pfizer adopted an R&D program to find new microbial antibiotics suited to its manufacturing technology after the war ended. Pfizer's successes in this antibiotic era established the firm as a major pharmaceutical company. In looking to larger commercial markets for drugs, Pfizer, like its competitors, pursued medicines for chronic diseases rather than acute infections. For this pursuit, in the 1950s and 1960s, Pfizer transformed itself into a chemistry‐orientated pharmaceutical firm by reorienting its R&D toward chemistry. This led to a growing divergence between R&D and manufacturing and the eventual replacement of biological manufacturing with chemical manufacturing. The article explores the changing trajectories of R&D and manufacturing at Pfizer, their shifting positions within the firm, and the consequences of these changes and shifts for the firm's strategy and organization.
Pfizer and Its Competitive Marketing Challenges
Published in Journal of Hospital Marketing & Public Relations, 2002
ABSTRACT Pfizer has been the preeminent global pharmaceutical company in recent years and much of their success can be attributed to their marketing responsiveness and innovation. Pfizer is committed to patients, the community and quality product development. As a model in marketing effectiveness they also show how to lead internal resources efficiently to maximize market place opportunities.
Amlodipine/atorvastatin: the first cross risk factor polypill for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease
Published in Expert Review of Cardiovascular Therapy, 2004
William H Frishman, Andrea L Zuckerman
In 2002, the World Health Organization estimated that over 58% of cardiovascular disease in North America is due to ‘both blood pressure and cholesterol higher than optimal’. Unfortunately, less than a third of patients with both conditions are identified, and fewer than one in ten reach the treatment goals for both factors. Adherence to treatment is notably improved when therapy is initiated simultaneously. Combination therapy of amlodipine besylate (Norvasc®, Pfizer Ltd) with atorvastatin calcium (Lipitor®, Pfizer Ltd), marketed as Caduet® (Pfizer Ltd) is the first dual-therapy compound designed to treat hypertension and/or angina and dyslipidemia concurrently with a single daily pill in the full range of dosing combinations. Amlodipine/atorvastatin retains the safety and efficacy of its parent compounds whilst simplifying the management of these comorbid conditions, in what may be considered the first version of a polypill.
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