Revenue from Lyrica, a drug developed by a Northwestern professor, increased by 58 percent in the U.S. during the past year, pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Inc. announced Wednesday.
Lyrica sales increased to $1.8 billion in 2007, up from $1.2 billion in 2006, when Lyrica became the first Pfizer drug in more than a decade to earn more than $1 billion in a year.
Pfizer’s new products, such as Lyrica, are performing well, said Jeff Kindler, Pfizer’s chairman and chief executive officer, in the report.
The Food and Drug Administration recently approved Lyrica to treat fibromyalgia, a syndrome related to arthritis, making it the only drug in the U.S. available for the chronic pain condition.
Lyrica, a pain-relief pill, was initially developed in 1989 by NU chemistry professor Richard Silverman. The FDA approved it in 2005 to also treat pain associated with diabetes and epilepsy.
NU received about $72 million from Lyrica sales in 2006 from its 6 percent drug royalties. In December, the university announced that it had sold a portion of its royalties to pharmaceutical company Royal Pharma for $700 million.
Eugene Sunshine, NU’s senior vice president for business and finance, told The Daily two weeks ago that the Lyrica royalties are a very valuable income source for the university.
In the past year, revenues from the drug have allowed the university to pursue new construction projects and pour money into its growing endowment, now valued at more than $6.6 billion.
The $700 million from the royalty sale went directly into the university’s endowment, and the sale was the product of a long decision-making process, University President Henry Bienen said Thursday.
“When you have a drug like Lyrica, you want to talk to a lot of people,” Bienen said.
Because of Lyrica’s success, university officials said it was an opportune time to sell.
“This decision comes out of a combination of a good market, good analysis and first and foremost, a wonderful product that was discovered and advanced by talented faculty,” Sunshine said two weeks ago. “It is the best thing for us to make the money permanent and let it grow over the years.”
Reach Sisi Wei at [email protected].
