Preview: U.S. panel seen backing Pfizer’s arthritis drug hope

Humira has been available since 2002. Enbrel, made by Amgen Inc and also injected, has been sold since 1998. Both costly drugs block a protein called tumor necrosis factor (TNF) that is tied to inflammation.

Other big drugs in the increasingly crowded anti-TNF category include Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade ($4.6 billion of sales in 2010) and Enbrel ($3.53 billion in 2010).

DOSING, PRICE ATTRACTION

Pfizer’s tofacitinib is a traditional chemical pill that works by blocking signals from entering cells that would activate immune and inflammatory responses.

It is the furthest along in its clinical development, ahead of about 11 other drugs in a new category known as JAK inhibitors.

Tofacitinib’s most attractive feature over older drugs may be its dosing. Patients take it twice a day in tablet form, rather than having to inject themselves every other week, as with Abbott’s Humira.

“The fact that it’s oral is a huge advantage,” said Dr. Cynthia Aranow, a specialist in rheumatology at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, New York.

Doctors say tofacitinib should be less expensive than more difficult to produce biotech drugs, which carry a $20,000 per year price tag, and that a significantly lower price could tip the balance in its favor.

Pfizer declined to speak about pricing issues during an earnings call this week.

Even if doctors do not turn to the drug first, it could help the nearly 30 to 40 percent of patients who fail to benefit from standard injectable treatments, physicians and analysts said.

Pfizer hopes to eventually gain approval for tofacitinib as a first option for patients, or a second option behind decades-old drug methotrexate. It is also studying the drug in conditions like inflammatory bowel diseases, psoriasis and dry eye.

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By Anna Yukhananov