Pfizer is trimming its pipeline (and team), discarding three assets after R&D spending dropped 24% in the last quarter of 2023.
The New York-based pharma’s overall operating expenses declined 10% compared to the last quarter of 2022, Chief Financial Officer and EVP David Denton said on a Jan. 30 investor call. Adjusted R&D expenses dropped 24%, driven by lower spending across vaccine programs and certain acquired assets, Denton said.
Of the three programs being cut, the latest-stage asset is fosmanogepix (APX001), the drug at the heart of Pfizer’s Amplyx Pharmaceuticals acquisition in 2021. The investigational vaccine was being assessed in a phase 2 study—which has now been terminated—to treat invasive fungal infections caused by Aspergillus or rare molds. At one point, the pharma had also been studying fosmanogepix as a potential treatment for liver dysfunction.
In November, Pfizer sold the rights to the antifungal candidate to Swiss biotech Basilea Pharmaceutica for $37 million upfront. The biotech is set to run phase 3 clinical development of fosmanogepix.
The Big Pharma had previously snapped up the infectious disease pipeline from Amplyx for an undisclosed sum. Through the acquisition, the Big Pharma had also added neutralizing antibody MAU868 and early-stage antifungal APX2039 to its R&D pipeline. It also appears that fosmanogepix had been the last candidate standing from the Amplyx buy, as neither MAU868 or APX2039 are listed in Pfizer’s updated pipeline.
Next on the list of discards is oncology asset PF-07062119, a T-cell engaging CD3 bispecific being studied in a phase 1 trial for patients with advanced gastrointestinal tumors. The bispecific was being tested as both a single agent and in combination with an anti-PD-1 or an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF), according to ClinicalTrials.gov. The open-label study had an estimated enrollment of 130 patients and an estimated completion date set for 2025.
The third Pfizer product to hit the reject pile is PF-07260437, a phase 1 therapy designed to treat advanced breast cancer, ovarian cancer or endometrial cancer. The B7-H4 x CD3 bispecific monoclonal antibody was being tested among 30 patients in a study that wrapped in October of last year, as listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
The cuts come amid Pfizer’s global cost-cutting campaign. In January alone, the pharma has announced two expected layoff waves that will impact more than 300 people.
Editor's note: This article was updated at 1 p.m. ET on Jan. 31 to include information about Basilea's acquisition of fosmanogepix.