• MSNBC/AP, Monday, December 4, 2006 12:15 PM

Pfizer was devastated Saturday. An independent board monitoring a study for cholesterol treatment torcetrapib recommended that the work end because of an unexpected number of deaths. The company immediately complied with the recommendation. It will likely slash staff and accelerate merger and licensing deals as the pressure on it to improve its financial performance intensifies, analysts say.

Analysts expect Pfizer to act swiftly to bring new products into the fold, either through acquisition or licensing. Pfizer reiterated that it hopes to introduce six new products to the market by 2010, but its pipeline just doesn't have another drug that offers the sales potential of torcetrapib.

Dr. Steven Nissen, chairman of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic and an outspoken critic of the pharmaceutical industry, says he doesn't believe Pfizer will face any liability issues over the trial because it acted swiftly to tell the public and researchers about the problem. The results were unexpected; the review board examined the trial data in October and didn't see an increase risk of death, according to Pfizer.

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