Pfizer abandons research into Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases

The drug giant Pfizer has announced that it is pulling out of early stage research into Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, with the loss of 300 jobs.

Its money can be more productively invested elsewhere, the company said. “This was an exercise to reallocate spend across our portfolio, to focus on those areas where our pipeline, and our scientific expertise, is strongest,” it said. The job losses will be at sites in the US.

Mikael Dolsten, president of worldwide research and development for the company, told a conference in San Francisco on 8 January …