Pfizer’s commitment to the breast cancer community is unwavering

This year, Pfizer announced results from two studies of Ibrance®(palbociclib) – our breakthrough medicine for metastatic breast cancer – in earlier stages of the disease. These collaborative research studies were conducted by international cooperative research groups and were designed to evaluate whether the addition of palbociclib to standard endocrine treatment would reduce the risk of developing recurrent disease for patients with early HR+/HER2- breast cancer. Neither the PALLAS nor the PENELOPE-B studies showed an incremental benefit from the addition of palbociclib to standard endocrine therapy for people with early-stage breast cancer.

While these results were disappointing, the study results provide opportunities to learn more about the heterogeneous biology of early breast cancer and enhance future research. The palbociclib early breast cancer development program represents how collaborative partnerships can help advance science, and despite the negative study outcomes, we can learn, evolve and continue to innovate.

The learnings from these studies will be valuable as we continue to advance the development of our investigational next-generation CDK inhibitor programs.

Our commitment to women and men living with breast cancer remains steadfast. We are proud of the transformative impact Ibrance has on the treatment of HR+, HER2- metastatic breast cancer (MBC) – a disease with a vastly different prognosis and goals of therapy than early breast cancer. This year we achieved the 101^st worldwide approval for Ibrance combination therapy in the treatment of certain patients with MBC and to date, Ibrance has been prescribed to more than 350,000 people around the world.  We look forward to continuing to learn from patients’ real-world experience through evaluation of data from everyday clinical practice to further inform treatment decisions.

​​​​​​​As we reflect on the past year, it is important we continue to follow the science on the path to better outcomes for patients.