Pfizer Inc.

235 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017

USA

Phone: (212) 573-2323
Fax: (212) 573-7851
Web Site: http://www.pfizer.com/

A. Company Profile

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) is one of world's leading pharmaceutical companies. The company's product portfolio includes innovative treatments across a wide range of therapeutic areas. There are extensive discovery and development programs in the field of oncology at Pfizer.

B. Products

Product Pipelines

1. Irinotecan

Irinotecan, Camptosar or CPT-11, is a semisynthesized derivative of camptothecin, which was originally isolated from the Chinese plant Camptotheca acuminata. Irinotecan is transformed to the active metabolite SN-38 by carboxylesterase, primarily in the liver. Irinotecan, a potent inhibitor of topoisomerase I, affects some DNA replication processes.

Originally synthesized in 1983, irinotecan was first approved in Japan in 1994 for small-cell lung cancer and hematologic malignancies. This was followed by approvals in France in 1995 and in the United States in 1996. Clinical trials have shown irinotecan is active not only in lung cancer and hematologic malignancies but also in colorectal, gastric, ovarian, and cervical cancers.

2. SU11248

SU11248 is a drug in development by the Sugen Pharmaceutical Company. It is an oral small molecule drug that inhibits specific tyrosine kinases. These are enzymes needed for cell functions.  The specific enzymes that SU11248 inhibits are the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), KIT (a transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase), and FLT3 receptor tyrosine kinases. By inhibiting these enzymes these receptors have their function inhibited. The drug has anti-angiogenic effects because VEGF and PDGF are important to many types of tumor to develop new blood supplies that are needed for tumor growth. VEGF and PDGF have been implicated in the growth of melanoma tumors. It also has direct anti-tumor effects as well.