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Read our latest stories on the people and scientific innovations making a difference in patients’ lives.
Purpose & Ideals
Through Public-Private Partnership, Scientists are Working to Better Understand Gene Therapy and How it Could Help Patients With Rare Diseases
A rare disease is, by its very nature, rare. The CDC defines a rare disease as a condition that affects fewer than 200,000 people in the United States, or no more than one out of every 2,000 people in Europe.1 And yet, rare diseases—which frequently have a genetic component—affect many: there may be as many 7,000 different types of rare diseases, impacting 25 to 30 million people in the United States, according to the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.2 Often, rare diseases...
Purpose & Ideals
Collaborative Efforts in Biopharma: Accelerating Vaccine Development
In the year since the pandemic struck, the world has watched one of the greatest real-life dramas of all time unfold: the quest for a vaccine. In the past, drug development and clinical trials were of interest to a relatively small group of scientists, regulators and health care professionals. But with the threat of COVID-19 looming large, time has not been a luxury. The race for a vaccine has become a true spectacle, carrying with it the potential to save untold numbers of lives, globally.The...
Purpose & Ideals
The Pfizer Foundation Invests in Community-Based Solutions to Combat the Threat of Infectious Diseases
Globally, infectious diseases are responsible for an estimated seven million deaths annually1 and are a leading cause of disability, particularly among young children and marginalized populations,2 often perpetuating the cycle of poverty.3 This is one of the reasons why The Pfizer Foundation* is dedicated to accelerating innovative solutions and improving health systems to help address the urgent threat of infectious diseases. Through the Global Health Innovation Grants (GHIG) program, now in...
Purpose & Ideals
Pfizer Partners with Wellcome to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance in Sub-Saharan Africa
As part of Pfizer’s longstanding history of fighting infectious diseases and reducing health disparities for people around the world, we are excited to announce a new partnership with Wellcome, an independent foundation, to help tackle the growing public health crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR occurs when bacteria evolve to resist the effectiveness of antibiotics, making previously treatable diseases difficult or impossible to treat. Without action, it is expected to lead to the...
Purpose & Ideals
Pfizer Partners with Direct Relief to Provide Critical COVID-19 Supplies to Hospitals
Fighting back against a global pandemic requires cooperation, collaboration, and teamwork. As part of Pfizer’s broader COVID-19 response, we are proud to partner with Direct Relief, a humanitarian aid organization dedicated to improving the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies, across all 50 United States and 80 countries. Pfizer has always been committed to deploying our resources in times of crisis, and we leveraged our long-standing partnership with Direct Relief...
The Table of Everything: A Scientist’s Quest to Make Human Genetic Data More User-Friendly
Since the human genome was first sequenced in 2003, scientists have collected a wealth of genetic information that could potentially be used to help create new medicines. Remarkably, as sequencing technology gets faster and cheaper, the amount of human genetic data now doubles every seven months. But in order to keep pace with the rapid generation of genetic information and to make use of it in drug discovery, this information needs to be made more accessible for scientists of all stripes...
Partnering to Turn the 'Undruggable' into Promising Targets
In the world of drug discovery, “undruggable” targets are like the stubborn children of biology, proteins that are considered too challenging to bind with conventional molecules. With the rapid pace of scientific advancement, however, the “undruggable” targets of yesterday now represent a promising new area of research. Such is the case with deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs), a family of some 100 proteins that play a role in regulating the right balance of proteins in cells. In 2017, academic...
Science & Innovation
Unlocking the Secrets of the Immune System
The immune system consists of dozens of different cell types that are designed to protect and defend against infection. But sometimes, immune cells can respond in a way that can actually cause disease—for example, when certain cell types either over- or underact. In the field of immunology, scientists are studying how to disrupt or manage these different immune responses to improve health. In cancer, for example, the immune system is turned off or muted, while in inflammatory disorders, the...
Scientific ‘Swap Meet’: Pharma Competitors Form Novel Consortium to Share Materials
Just as an amazing meal often begins with the best ingredients, the most innovative compounds are likely to emerge when scientists have access to diverse and high-quality chemical building blocks. But what are chemical building blocks? To understand that, first, you should know that one way in which chemists synthesize compounds is by combining smaller compounds. These smaller compounds are sometimes referred to as “building blocks” because they can be used to build larger compounds...
Unlocking the Secrets of a Protein “Superfamily"
Large families can be complex. And while you may know some of its members individually, you can’t really gain a true understanding of their relationships and dynamics without considering the group in its totality. Such is the case for solute carrier (SLC) transporters, a “superfamily” of some 400 proteins found in our cell membranes responsible for shuttling nutrients, neurotransmitters, medicines and other molecules in and out of cells. Despite their importance, they remain largely...
Using the Dr. Jekyll of Chemical Compounds to Advance Drug Synthesis
Sulfuryl fluoride gas is the chemical equivalent of Mr. Hyde. Like the fictional monster, it’s dangerous and difficult to work with. But by inventing a process that creates a new substance called [4-(Acetylamino)phenyl]-ImidodiSulfuryl diFluoride, referred to as AISF, scientists are replacing the gas with the chemical equivalent of Dr. Jekyll. In its new state, it shares several characteristics with the good doctor, like being handy in a laboratory setting. In its Mr. Hyde form of a...
Purpose & Ideals
Traveling Nine Thousand Miles to Help End Trachoma
Antibiotics are a key component in the global effort to eliminate trachoma, the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness. One of several neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) the World Health Organization (WHO) has identified for elimination, trachoma is a preventable disease, and one that affects those living in communities with limited access to healthcare, clean water and sanitation. Pfizer is proud to contribute to trachoma elimination efforts through the donation of an antibiotic used...
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