(By Balachander) Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) said a late-stage trial of its Lyrica nerve-pain treatment failed to meet main objective of a specified change in pain and said it stopped a similar study involving patients with HIV neuropathy.
The company's phase 3 trial tested Lyrica in patients suffering with diabetes-related nerve damage.
Meanwhile, an interim analysis of a similar study in patients with neuropathic pain associated with HIV neuropathy showed that the improvements in neuropathic pain symptoms were virtually same between the Lyrica and placebo treatments.
Lyrica is not approved in the U.S. for the treatment of neuropathic pain associated with HIV neuropathy. Sales of Lyrica grew 16 percent to $955 million in the first quarter.
Pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer are seeking to expand use of current drugs to offset the loss of patents on key drugs.
In the United States, Lyrica capsules CV is approved to treat diabetic nerve pain, pain after shingles, fibromyalgia and partial onset seizures in adults with epilepsy who take one or more drugs for seizures.
Painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy is a form of nerve damage characterized by burning pain, pins and needles, or shooting pain in the feet and often in the hands as well. Around 20 percent of people with diabetes experience pain resulting from nerve damage, Pfizer noted.