Pfizer had clues its blockbuster drug could prevent Alzheimer's. Why didn't it tell the world?

[joelbc1]

for anybody who cares about financial analysis, here are some facts that relate to the above (sort of):

As of the end of 2018, PFE has almost $19 billion in cash & equivalents, but is still in a "net debt" situation with almost $42 billion of debt. So net debt of $23 billion which isn't heavy considering the company's annual EBITDA of of around $22-25 billion. Pfizer's annual free cash flow has been remarkably consistent for years, coming in around $13-16 billion per annum, and projected to be in the $16-17 billion range for 2019 and 2020.

And your point? I was not talking "cash flow"....my friend, their rep, was talking " cash on hand" to settle......cash....like in cash money.....and back then $3B was a lot of money.
Where did I ever question the financial success or business accumen of Pfizer? As my father (a pharmacist) once told me back in the 1960's.......When God has cash flow problems, he talks with Big Pharma........Big Pharma is no recent business phenomena....

 

[Pepperman]

And your point? I was not talking "cash flow"....my friend, their rep, was talking " cash on hand" to settle......cash....like in cash money.....and back then $3B was a lot of money.
Where did I ever question the financial success or business accumen of Pfizer? As my father (a pharmacist) once told me back in the 1960's.......When God has cash flow problems, he talks with Big Pharma........Big Pharma is no recent business phenomena....

My point was to offer facts about PFE's balance sheet and cash-generating capability. I replied to your post because it had already referenced some number from the way back machine, which is fine but also could be seen as entirely anecdotal given it was in fact years ago.

Turns out you didn't understand the facts either. Pfizer currently has $19 billion of cash on hand. That's like cash money. To be used for whatever they want to use cash money for.

 

[joelbc1]

My point was to offer facts about PFE's balance sheet and cash-generating capability. I replied to your post because it had already referenced some number from the way back machine, which is fine but also could be seen as entirely anecdotal given it was in fact years ago.

Turns out you didn't understand the facts either. Pfizer currently has $19 billion of cash on hand. That's like cash money. To be used for whatever they want to use cash money for.

They certainly should have....is this $19 B in a separate fund specifically for settling law suits, like the $3B was back 10-12 years ago? Big Pharma is a cash generating cow. They always have been.......yet they are always just struggling to get by....

 

[unIowa]

A team of researchers inside Pfizer made a startling find in 2015: The company's blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis therapy Enbrel, a powerful anti-inflammatory drug, appeared to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease by 64 percent.

The results were from an analysis of hundreds of thousands of insurance claims. Verifying that the drug would actually have that effect in people would require a costly clinical trial - and after several years of internal discussion, Pfizer opted against further investigation and chose not to make the data public, the company confirmed.

So interesting bc I just listened to the book "Grain Brain" as it talked about brain disorders being caused by chronic inflamation throughout the body. Interesting to me is that what was stated in the book (written by a nuerologist) was the impacts of gluten (even in non gluten sensitive people), refined/simple carbs (even some fruits), and raised insulin levels (hence some fruits, see apples, pineapples, peaches, grapes, etc) can have on inflamation markers in the body. The theory in turn was the nearly all of our now chronic illnesses or illnesses of modern society (diabetes, GI track issues, some cancers, cardiovascular issues, alzheimers, some ADD, even MS to a certain point) could be linked chances of obtaining one of these illnesses was greatly increased in via the standard American diet and many of these things (not all) could be treated with a change in ones diet to a more LCHF approach.

When you connect the dots and listen to what is out there all of this stuff really makes sense. So to the OPs point that Pfizer had a drug that would reduce inflamation thus reducing the chances of coming down with Alzheimers it also appears that just changing your diet up to LCHF would do the same thing YET our govt doesn't come out publicly with this info and keeps pushing a low fat diet approach for society. They seem to be so stuck on cholestoral, which I am more and more convienced doesn't really matter in the manner that most people think (meaning people get freaked out with higher LDL numbers even with high HDL numbers and low triglicerides which is essentially what a LCHF diet does in most). Even the studies that I have been looking at/reading about show a decrease of cardiovascular events/deaths of .2% by lowering your cholestoral from the 220-240 range to under 200 and that is ONLY for males under 50 as it seems males over 50 seem to do better with slightly higher levels of choestoral when looking at all cause mortalities and now other illnesses such as Alzheimers.

I'll take on avg 2-4 months less of life bc of a coronary event over having a huge increase of not even know who I am or the people around me for the last few years of my life.

 

[unIowa]

Wait....I thought "the free market" would fix all these problems like Alzheimer's.

Instead, research results from private "free market" companies isn't being published?

And now, we need "Big Gub'mint" to fund and publish those research results, so we can get Alzheimer's prevention drugs?

This gets confusing.

Do MAGAs and Tea Partiers want taxes to go to this kind of stuff, or not? Because this illustrates that "free market companies" are completely unwilling to take on these types of risks.

Joe the govt gave us this and with it lead millions to diabetes, nearly half of the US population to metabolic syndrome, 50% obeseity to which in turn has caused our HC costs to skyrocket...granted they did so with the help of giant US corporations who were pushing a grain based food agenda.

 

[Joes Place]

Joe the govt gave us this and with it lead millions to diabetes, nearly half of the US population to metabolic syndrome, 50% obeseity to which in turn has caused our HC costs to skyrocket...granted they did so with the help of giant US corporations who were pushing a grain based food agenda.

No. That chart didn't lead to obesity.

People interpreting things like "Cheerios" and "Snack crackers" as "Bread, cereal, rice & pasta" did.

That chart completely ignores the processed foods issues, which all mainly fit in the top category.

 

[Pepperman]

They certainly should have....is this $19 B in a separate fund specifically for settling law suits, like the $3B was back 10-12 years ago? Big Pharma is a cash generating cow. They always have been.......yet they are always just struggling to get by....

The $19 billion number is simply their "cash & equivalents" line on the balance sheet.

I would guess they have provisioned already for some lawsuits and product liability claims, but I don't know what that line item is... I don't care to dig through the public-filings to find it either.

 

[joelbc1]

So interesting bc I just listened to the book "Grain Brain" as it talked about brain disorders being caused by chronic inflamation throughout the body. Interesting to me is that what was stated in the book (written by a nuerologist) was the impacts of gluten (even in non gluten sensitive people), refined/simple carbs (even some fruits), and raised insulin levels (hence some fruits, see apples, pineapples, peaches, grapes, etc) can have on inflamation markers in the body. The theory in turn was the nearly all of our now chronic illnesses or illnesses of modern society (diabetes, GI track issues, some cancers, cardiovascular issues, alzheimers, some ADD, even MS to a certain point) could be linked chances of obtaining one of these illnesses was greatly increased in via the standard American diet and many of these things (not all) could be treated with a change in ones diet to a more LCHF approach.

When you connect the dots and listen to what is out there all of this stuff really makes sense. So to the OPs point that Pfizer had a drug that would reduce inflamation thus reducing the chances of coming down with Alzheimers it also appears that just changing your diet up to LCHF would do the same thing YET our govt doesn't come out publicly with this info and keeps pushing a low fat diet approach for society. They seem to be so stuck on cholestoral, which I am more and more convienced doesn't really matter in the manner that most people think (meaning people get freaked out with higher LDL numbers even with high HDL numbers and low triglicerides which is essentially what a LCHF diet does in most). Even the studies that I have been looking at/reading about show a decrease of cardiovascular events/deaths of .2% by lowering your cholestoral from the 220-240 range to under 200 and that is ONLY for males under 50 as it seems males over 50 seem to do better with slightly higher levels of choestoral when looking at all cause mortalities and now other illnesses such as Alzheimers.

I'll take on avg 2-4 months less of life bc of a coronary event over having a huge increase of not even know who I am or the people around me for the last few years of my life.

Last Dec I visit the doc for my “annual”...Having survived “an event” and CABx3 surgery 20 years ago, I was on a couple of chloresterol meds...and one was quite expensive...even if I got it from Canada. This doc was a new one for me, and he looked at my meds and told me that ‘the most recent” data really doesn’t support the importance of any cholesterol numbers, but that the key indicator seemed to show that 40 mg. Of atorvastatin seemed to be the magic bullet. He suggested I stop the expensive cholesterol med (Zetia) and drop my Niacin and change my atorvastatin from 25 to 40 mg. He advised me to talk with my cardiologist and take his advice...my physician would be comfortable with whatever the decision.
I talked with my cardiologist and he was fine with the change in meds. 6 months later, I still am alive. I see my cardiologist tomorrow.

 

[unIowa]

Last Dec I visit the doc for my “annual”...Having survived “an event” and CABx3 surgery 20 years ago, I was on a couple of chloresterol meds...and one was quite expensive...even if I got it from Canada. This doc was a new one for me, and he looked at my meds and told me that ‘the most recent” data really doesn’t support the importance of any cholesterol numbers, but that the key indicator seemed to show that 40 mg. Of atorvastatin seemed to be the magic bullet. He suggested I stop the expensive cholesterol med (Zetia) and drop my Niacin and change my atorvastatin from 25 to 40 mg. He advised me to talk with my cardiologist and take his advice...my physician would be comfortable with whatever the decision.
I talked with my cardiologist and he was fine with the change in meds. 6 months later, I still am alive. I see my cardiologist tomorrow.

From everything I am seeing/reading high cholesterol seems to be a real issue when it is also accompanied by high levels of inflamation as chronic inflamation is most likely a bigger cause for cardiovascular issues/health. This might explain why your doc thinks atorvastatin is the magic bullet or at the very least why it is considered so effective: C-reactive protein levels (inflamitory markers) in ACS were rapidly reduced with atorvastatin. These data provide evidence that statins have fast and early anti-inflammatory effects in addition to lipid-lowering effects in ACS.

My blood results just came back and my overall cholesterol jumped from 176 to 210 but all inflamitory markers are way down, blood sugar is perfect, and I have dropped 50lbs. I'll trade better markers in every other category over a bit higher LDL and overall chloresterol especially with HDL above 60 and triglicerides under 90. I also have read that while one is in a weight loss cycle that their cholesterol levels will typically read higher, so I have next to zero concerns.

If my doc pushes I will request a partical density test of my LDL to see what sort of particals are floating around big and fluffy (shown to not be harmful) or small and dense (oxidized bad for you particles). I just think the science on all of this is now changing a bit as we have better methods and tools for examining the real effects of cholesterol of cardiovascular health.

 

[Joes Place]

My blood results just came back and my overall cholesterol jumped from 176 to 210 but all inflamitory markers are way down, blood sugar is perfect, and I have dropped 50lbs.

No easy feat.