Technology Articles

Science & Innovation

Brighter Together: How the Pharmaceutical Industry is Shining a Light on a Rare Cause of Heart Failure

Roughly one in three Americans is at risk for heart failure1, a condition where the heart can no longer effectively pump blood. And one in four will develop heart failure at some point in their lives1. Behind these statistics is a complex issue: the causes of heart failure differ widely among affected individuals. And identifying the underlying cause – especially if it’s rare – can be tricky.Among the less recognized causes is transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy, or ATTR-CM, which can mimic...

Science & Innovation

Developing a Path Forward in Cancer Cachexia

Across disciplines, therapeutic areas, and even continents, Pfizer scientists have been working to advance understanding of – and potential treatments for – cachexia, a complex metabolic condition associated with certain chronic conditions, such as cancer, and characterized by severe weight loss, decreased appetite, fatigue, and muscle wasting. Its symptoms can often be misattributed, and there are currently no FDA-approved treatments targeting its root cause.But, over the past decade, the...

Science & Innovation

The Next Era of Decentralized Clinical Trials: The Clinical Trial Anywhere Model

During the early months of 2020, decentralized modalities to conduct clinical trials went mainstream as a solution to a short-term problem: how to continue clinical trials amid pandemic closures. At Pfizer, however, remote trials and the use of digital tools to conduct clinical trials were implemented long before the pandemic. Increased adoption of modalities like telehealth visits became catalysts for how — and where — clinical research could be done.What's more, surveys show that participants...

Science & Innovation

Harnessing the Power of AI to Detect ATTR-CM

Artificial intelligence (AI) has quietly become a part of our daily lives – through personalized recommendations, virtual assistants, or smart devices, we barely notice it anymore. Yet many of us might not realize the advances AI is making in healthcare. From accelerating drug discovery to improving disease detection, it is transforming the way we understand and manage health.AI has had numerous applications in cardiology in recent years, from analyzing results of cardiac imaging tests to...

Science & Innovation

Pharma Peers Unite to Build DNA-Encoded Libraries

Finding tools and hits for targets in drug discovery can feel like hunting for four leaf clovers in a blizzard. And researcher Sylvie Sakata was close to giving up on one discovery tool, DNA-encoded libraries, when a new consortium started to fall into place. Now this technology is garnering more interest for its potential to discover new molecular compounds, known as “hits,” to exponentially impact the early research efforts that can lead to potential new medicines.Sakata is the Head of...

Science & Innovation

From Math to Medicine: What Are Mathematical Models and How Do They Predict Pharmacology?

It sounds strange, but predicting how medications impact diseases and the body is a lot like forecasting the weather.To understand why, imagine opening a weather app on your smartphone to check the forecast for the upcoming weekend. You see that it’ll be sunny, 72 degrees, with a slight breeze—perfect weather. But how did scientists predict those precise physical conditions so far in the future?The answer: mathematical models.Scientists across disciplines use mathematical models to make...

Purpose & Ideals

Three Principles of Responsibility for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare

Most people already use artificial intelligence (AI) in their daily lives, sometimes without even thinking about it as being AI-driven. Global positioning systems (GPS) are AI-based navigation applications, for instance, that help us find the quickest route between Points A and B and suggest alternate routes when an accident has jammed up traffic. Artificial intelligence speeds up online shopping by remembering our shopping preferences and recommending similar and complementary products. Artifi...

Real People

5 Inspiring STEM Women Who are Making Medicine Happen

Numbers don’t lie, so the saying goes. And in the United States, statistics about women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) seem to speak less than impressive volumes of truth. Here are the facts: In 2021, only 24% of people working in the United States held jobs in a STEM field1. And while women made up 50.5% of the total U.S. population2, they accounted for only 35% of people employed in STEM jobs.1 Moreover, out of the 24% of all people who worked in STEM1, 65% of...

Purpose & Ideals

Pfizer’s Institute of Translational Equitable Medicine Addresses Equity in Health Research

When it comes to healthcare, the terms “equitable” and "access" often go hand-in-hand. In order to prevent, treat, and identify diseases that disproportionately impact underserved and minority populations, Pfizer believes that research must be directed to the root causes of healthcare disparities. The recently-launched Institute of Translational Equitable Medicine (ITEM) is intended to do just that: work toward a more equitable future of health care. For Aida Habtezion, M.D., who is Pfizer’s...

Data Doctors: How Biostatisticians Play a Critical Role in Discovering and Developing Medicine

When you think of a statistician, you may picture a math whiz hastily scrawling formulas on a white board in the halls of academia or the trading floors of finance. But statisticians—specifically, biostatisticians—play a critical role in discovering and developing new medicines. “If we want to get the most from the data, analysis, and experiment, more often than not, it requires early partnership between scientists and biostatisticians in the design and analysis plan,” says Vice President, Head...

An Immune System “GPS” Uncovers Pathways to Treat Diseases

When it comes to understanding the immune system, we’re in the age of a data “traffic jam.” Thanks to advances in gene sequencing technology and decades of research, we’ve amassed a huge trove of information, but utilizing it to drive new insights can be challenging. A collaboration with Israel-based startup CytoReason is allowing Pfizer scientists to harness computational technology that functions as a “GPS” for the immune system. The tools help to unpack these complex data sets so they can...

Vaccines During Pregnancy

Women who get the vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during pregnancy can help protect themselves from some diseases—and they can give their babies some early protection as well. This happens because pregnant women who are vaccinated can pass along some of the antibodies (proteins that fight disease) they get from the vaccines to their babies. These antibodies can give the baby some protection against certain diseases during the first months of life—when...