- Pfizer (PFE) joined a list Monday of more than 200 other drugmakers and medical professionals condemning a Texas judge’s move to block a common abortion drug
- Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla signed the letter, with representatives from Biogen, Merck Corp. and others
- The signatories say the judge’s ruling goes against scientific evidence, setting a dangerous precident
- Pfizer Inc, (NYSE:PFE) is up 0.41 percent, trading at US$41.68 at 1:56 p.m. ET
Pfizer (PFE) joined a list Monday of more than 200 other drugmakers and medical professionals condemning a Texas judge’s move to block a common abortion drug.
The New York pharmaceutical giant’s President and CEO Albert Bourla signed an open letter, criticizing the ruling by Texas District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk. The letter is dated April 7.
Kacsmaryk issued a temporary hold on federal approval of mifepristone, a commonly-used medication in medical abortion procedures and also to help manage miscarriages.
The drug was developed and first approved in France in 1988, and became available in the United States in 2000. Pfizer is one of a number of companies that make it.
Retired Pfizer VP of Research and Development Catherine Mackey also signed the letter, as did executives from Princeton Biomedical Consulting, CRISPR Therapeutics, Merck Corp., Biogen and Ananke Therapeutics.
All were critical of Kacsmaryk’s ruling, adding he lacked the medical training and knowledge to make such a decision. It also goes against U.S. Food and Drug Administration decisions, ostensibly going over the agency’s head.
“[The decision] undermined the bipartisan authority granted by Congress to the Food and Drug Administration to approve and regulate safe, effective medicines for every American,” reads the letter.
“The decision ignores decades of scientific evidence and legal precedent. Judge Kacsmaryk’s act of judicial interference has set a precedent for diminishing FDA’s authority over drug approvals, and in so doing, creates uncertainty for the entire biopharma industry.”
The judge last week sided with an anti-abortion group that challenged the FDA’s decades-old ruling in court. The case is likely to end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.
The letter worries the ruling could push the pharmaceutical industry down a slippery slope.
“Judicial activism will not stop here. If courts can overturn drug approvals without regard for new science, or evidence, or for the complexity required to fully vet the safety and efficacy of new drugs, any medicine is at risk for the same outcome,” the letter reads.
Pfizer Inc, (NYSE:PFE) is up 0.41 percent, trading at US$41.68 at 1:56 p.m. ET.
