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Pfizer to scale down early-stage rare disease research

US pharma giant Pfizer Inc. said on Thursday it is planning to realign its early-stage research into treatments for rare diseases and oncology, to focus on areas like rare and benign hematology.

Pfizer will also move away from having a rare disease research unit to align important rare disease programs to areas across its research units.

“We are refocusing our approach to early discovery and development research in rare disease and oncology,” a spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters, adding that the company will explore externalization opportunities for “a number of highly innovative, niche programs.”

Pfizer said its oncology research portfolio will become even more focused around breast, prostate and hematological cancer franchises.

Financial newspaper Barron’s first reported the news on Thursday. – Reuters