• Pfizer Inc., of New York, said a Phase IIIb withdrawal design study for Lyrica (pregabalin) in patients with inadequately treated painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy did not meet its primary endpoint, defined as the change in mean pain score relative to baseline. In separate news, the big pharma firm said it stopped another Phase III study of Lyrica in patients with neuropathic pain associated with HIV neuropathy following a review of a planned interim analysis by the trial's external data monitoring committee. There were no safety concerns raised in the review, but the interim analysis from a total of 246 patients revealed that improvements in neuropathic pain symptoms were virtually identical between the Lyrica and placebo groups.