Wednesday, Pfizer Animal Health, a unit of Pfizer Inc. (PFE), said that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, has approved Palladia, or toceranib phosphate, the first canine cancer therapy in the U.S.
Pfizer intends to make the product available for purchase in early 2010. Meanwhile, Pfizer will introduce Palladia to boarded specialists in the weeks and months ahead to expand the body of clinical experience with this new therapy.
Palladia tablet is indicated to treat Patnaik grade II or III recurrent cutaneous mast cell tumors with or without regional lymph node involvement.
Pfizer Animal Health estimates that 1.2 million new canine cancer cases are reported in the U.S. every year and according to the Morris Animal Foundation, cancer is a leading cause of death in dogs.
"At the completion of a Palladia clinical study, approximately 60% of dogs had their tumors disappear, shrink or stop growing. Also, we determined that dogs whose tumors responded to Palladia experienced an improved quality of life," said Cheryl London, who has helped Pfizer Animal Health's Veterinary Medicine Research & Development to develop Palladia since 2000.
PFE is trading at $14.73, down $0.25 or 1.74%, on a volume of about 10.5 million shares.
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