Pfiz­er ax­es a key Duchenne MD pro­gram af­ter PhII flop, rais­ing new doubts for a drug cat­e­go­ry that at­tract­ed Roche and Bio­gen

Pfiz­er is jet­ti­son­ing an­oth­er dis­ap­point­ing drug that’s been in the clin­ic for Duchenne mus­cu­lar dy­s­tro­phy. The phar­ma gi­ant says it’s ax­ing work on do­ma­grozum­ab (PF-06252616) — rais­ing the odds against one R&D fo­cus in the field that has at­tract­ed some mar­quee play­ers around the world.

The drug is one of sev­er­al de­signed to in­hib­it myo­statin, which flopped against a one-year test of mus­cle strength, fail­ing to help pa­tients to any sig­nif­i­cant de­gree. By sup­press­ing myo­statin, which blunts mus­cles, the the­o­ry is that a prop­er ther­a­py can help slow the mus­cle-wast­ing ail­ment that in­evitably proves fa­tal to the boys who in­her­it this dis­ease.

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