AFP, New York :
It has been 20 years since Viagra was introduced, and Pfizer is still searching for another drug with as much earning power as the revolutionary blue erection pill.
If anything, the chances for another miracle drug may be waning as the pharmaceutical giant constrains its research and development budget amid broader cost-cutting efforts.
Pfizer forecasts it will spend $7.4 to $7.9 billion this year on R&D, compared with $7.7 billion last year, according to projections released in February.
That is below the R&D of rivals such as Merck and Johnson & Johnson, which plan more than $10 billion in spending. Pfizer’s restraint means walking away from entire areas of medical research.
In January, the world’s number two pharmaceutical company by sales ended its research programs into treatments for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, cutting 300 jobs and saying it would reinvest the funds in other domains.
Pfizer also signaled it could sell its consumer healthcare business, which includes popular over-the-counter products such as the anti-inflammatory drug Advil, multivitamin Centrum and the ubiquitous ChapStick lip balm.
It has been 20 years since Viagra was introduced, and Pfizer is still searching for another drug with as much earning power as the revolutionary blue erection pill.
If anything, the chances for another miracle drug may be waning as the pharmaceutical giant constrains its research and development budget amid broader cost-cutting efforts.
Pfizer forecasts it will spend $7.4 to $7.9 billion this year on R&D, compared with $7.7 billion last year, according to projections released in February.
That is below the R&D of rivals such as Merck and Johnson & Johnson, which plan more than $10 billion in spending. Pfizer’s restraint means walking away from entire areas of medical research.
In January, the world’s number two pharmaceutical company by sales ended its research programs into treatments for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, cutting 300 jobs and saying it would reinvest the funds in other domains.
Pfizer also signaled it could sell its consumer healthcare business, which includes popular over-the-counter products such as the anti-inflammatory drug Advil, multivitamin Centrum and the ubiquitous ChapStick lip balm.
