Pfizer "se olvida" del Alzheimer...

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Pfizer is giving up on discovering new drugs for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, abandoning costly efforts to find effective treatments for the disorders.

The cutback will result in 300 layoffs over the next several months.

"This was an exercise to reallocate [spending] across our portfolio, to focus on those areas where our pipeline, and our scientific expertise, is strongest," Pfizer said in a statement.
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The company plans to use the savings to fund drug R&D in other areas. “This was an exercise to reallocate [spending] across our portfolio, to focus on those areas where our pipeline, and our scientific expertise, is strongest,” it said.

Pfizer also said it plans to establish a corporate venture fund to invest in promising neuroscience projects outside the company.

Like several peers, Pfizer has invested heavily in developing treatments for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s because of the huge need, but met disappointment when once-promising compounds failed to work during testing.

Notably, in 2012, Pfizer and partner Johnson & Johnson halted development of an Alzheimer’s drug called bapineuzumab after it failed to slow memory loss in test subjects.

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Other companies, such as AstraZeneca PLC, Biogen Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co., keep pursuing Alzheimer’s treatment, but analysts consider the projects very risky.
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Write to Jonathan D. Rockoff at Jonathan.Rockoff@wsj.com