SUGEN - Shutdown and Legacy

Shutdown and Legacy

The Pfizer-Pharmacia merger lead to major cuts in research activities, including the shut down of Sugen over the course of 2003, with the loss of approximately 350 employees. Pfizer continued the phase 3 trials and development of SU11248, now known as Sutent (sunitinib), leading to Food and Drug Administration approval in January 2006 for treatment of RCC and GIST tumors. Other programs also transferred to Pfizer, including a follow-on compound to SU11248, known as SU14813, and programs on Met and PAK kinases. Work started at Sugen also contributed to the development of the ALK inhibitor crizotinib (Xalkori), FDA-approved for NSCLC in 2011. Sugen also generated extensive basic research on kinase biology, including the publication of almost 300 research papers, the definition of the human kinome, and the discovery of over 140 human kinase genes. Sugen alumni have gone on to major positions in other pharmaceutical and kinase-focused companies. In 2010, Sutent surpassed $1bn in annual revenues for Pfizer. and as of May 2011, over 100,000 patients had been treated with Sutent.