Prometheus 6

Quote of note:

The company says that selling torcetrapib and Lipitor in one pill makes sense because the two drugs work in complementary ways, and that it has the right to market its medicines as it sees fit, especially given the huge cost of developing torcetrapib.

Pfizer Stirs Concern With Plans To Sell Heart Drugs Only as Pair
By ALEX BERENSON

A drug that could be one of the most promising new heart treatments in a decade is generating controversy even before it is approved, because its maker, Pfizer, plans to sell it only in combination with the company's best-selling cholesterol treatment, Lipitor.

At a cardiology conference in Orlando, Fla., today, researchers sponsored by Pfizer are expected to present positive new results about the drug, which has been shown in preliminary studies to substantially raise levels of what is known as good cholesterol, a novel approach to preventing heart disease.

The new drug, called torcetrapib, still must clear many hurdles before it is approved, including concerns that it may raise blood pressure, a serious side effect for a heart medicine. It would not reach the market before 2007, at the earliest. Still, scientists say the medicine could be an important new treatment, while Wall Street views its success as crucial for the future of Pfizer, the world's largest drug company.

Pfizer's critics, who include prominent cardiologists, say the company should offer torcetrapib as a stand-alone pill, so that patients can take it either with Lipitor or with similar drugs not from Pfizer that may work better for them. For some patients, torcetrapib might even work best by itself, they say.