SAN DIEGO — Pfizer’s abrupt withdrawal of its sickle cell drug Oxybryta over safety concerns was called “tone deaf” during a panel discussion among sickle cell experts Saturday at STAT@ASH, which took place during the American Society of Hematology’s annual meeting.
They said patients were despondent over how suddenly the drug was pulled from the market in September because there had been no clear indication of problems in advance of the announcement. The speakers added that pharmaceutical executives should have worked more closely with specialists and sickle cell centers of excellence to roll out the drug to the right patients in the first place.
The drug was “given out like water” and its rollout was highly profit-driven, with little understanding of the specific needs of a vulnerable and genetically diverse patient population, said Julie Kanter, a leading sickle cell expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. At the time of the initial rollout, the drug was owned by the biotech company Global Blood Therapeutics. Pfizer later acquired the company.
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