A lawsuit against Pfizer is turning up some intensely embarrassing memos that show the marketing department's hands-on approach to new research studies that don't exactly bolster their sales pitch.
"We are not interested at all in having this paper published because it is negative!!" wrote Angela Crespo, Pfizer's senior marketing manager in 2002, about a new study of the company's blockbuster Neurontin. And Michael Rowbothan, then Neurontin's marketing team leader, wrote this in an email: "I think we can limit the potential downsides of the...study by delaying the publication for as long as possible."
In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, Pfizer said the company is "committed to the communication of medically or scientifically significant results of all studies, regardless of outcome."
- read the article [1] in the Wall Street Journal
Related Articles:
Investigators: Most data on drugs never available [2]
Study finds big gaps in clinical trial process [3]
Top 10 mistakes biotechs make (and how to avoid them) [4]
Biotech animals focus of regulatory review [5]
Blog divines new FDA standard on data integrity [6]
Are researchers facing FDA crackdown on trial fraud? [7]
Links:
[1] http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122342420313813411.html
[2] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/investigators-say-most-data-new-drugs-never-available/2008-09-23?utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss&cmp-id=OTC-RSS-FB0
[3] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/study-finds-big-gaps-in-clinical-trial-process/2008-04-03
[4] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/special-reports/top-10-mistakes-biotechs-make-and-how-avoid-them
[5] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/biotech-animals-focus-detailed-regulatory-review/2008-09-18
[6] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/blog-divines-new-fda-standard-on-data-integrity/2008-03-04
[7] http://www.fiercebioresearcher.com/story/are-researchers-facing-fda-crackdown-on-trial-fraud/2008-02-26