Calling the tie "magic," Pfizer Inc. CEO Albert Bourla defended his firm's decision to spin off its Upjohn unit and merge in an all-stock deal with Mylan N.V., creating a new entity to be named later with pro forma revenues as high as $20 billion. "We have a commercial footprint that is very much focused on China, on emerging markets," he said, which will help Mylan.
In late June, when Pfizer Inc. unveiled the first phase Ib data, mixed safety signal and all, for its Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene therapy, PF-06939926, investors in Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. as well as Solid Biosciences Inc. watched with particular interest. The latter firm seems none the worse for wear, though, raising $60 million in a private placement.
Adding I.V. sildenafil – the active ingredient in Viagra – to inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) therapy for newborns with persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN) failed to achieve a statistically significant reduction in treatment failure rates or time on iNO vs. iNO alone in the first part of a phase III study sponsored by Pfizer Inc.