Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc. will abandon early stage research on heart drugs as part of a strategy to sharpen its focus on ailments such as cancer, Alzheimer's disease and diabetes where the chances of a bigger profit are greatest.

The New York-based company, the world's largest drugmaker, is in a rush to find new medicines for when the cholesterol pill Lipitor loses patent protection in 2011. Lipitor had $12.7 billion in sales last year, a quarter of Pfizer's revenue.

As part of its shift, the company will sell or share rights to at least 11 medicines in early testing for diseases the company no longer believes profitable enough, said Martin Mackay, the head of research and development. That includes treatments for heart failure, high cholesterol and obesity. Besides Alzheimer's, cancer and diabetes, the company will pursue remedies for inflammatory diseases, pain and schizophrenia.

``These are the disease areas with a higher medical need where the science is really breaking,'' Mackay said in a telephone interview today. ``From an opportunistic point of view, we see greater opportunity to fight cancer and Alzheimer's and diabetes.''

Pfizer's research budget of about $7.2 billion is unlikely to change next year, he said. The intensified focus won't affect drugs in the last of three stages of testing needed for U.S. approval.

Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Kindler said in a March 5 interview that Pfizer would focus on medicines for cancer, pain, Alzheimer's disease and diabetes.

Pfizer rose 79 cents, or 4.5 percent, to $18.44 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have dropped 19 percent this year, compared with a 16 percent decline for the Standard & Poor's 500 Pharmaceutical Index. The index has 14 members.

End of an Era

By ending heart-disease research, Pfizer abandons an area of medicine that propelled its rise. Pfizer acquired Lipitor from Warner Lambert Co. in 2000, when the drug had less than $1 billion in annual sales, and transformed it into the best-selling pill in history. Lipitor sales have slumped since 2006, when generic copies of a similar drug, Merck & Co.'s Zocor, were introduced.

Products for cancer and pain are typically more profitable because drugmakers can charge a higher price, and there's less competition. About 20 percent of Pfizer's research funding currently goes toward cancer.

Pfizer said today the number of projects in final human tests has increased 50 percent since March, faster than it projected, to 25. The only new compound added was the drug CP- 751871, which is being tested against lung cancer. The other added projects are for new uses of drugs already in late-stage testing or on the market.

``It is going well, but clearly we have a lot more to do'' to get U.S. approval to sell the new drugs, Mackay said.

The restructuring won't result in laboratories closing and will shift many research employees to other areas, the company said. Mackay said he didn't know how many jobs would be cut.

Kindler, previously said the company will explore buying other companies to gain more experimental medicines. Pfizer is among drugmakers that analysts said may be considering buying ImClone Systems Inc., the New York maker of the cancer drug Erbitux. ImClone says it received a $70-a-share bid by a large drugmaker it wouldn't identify. Ray Kerins, a Pfizer spokesman, said Pfizer won't comment on market rumors or speculation.

Previous Reorganization

Pfizer will stop early stage research in anemia, heart disease, bone health, liver disease, muscle, obesity and some osteoarthritis compounds.

The company began reorganizing research in 2007 after halting development on its most promising experimental drug, the cholesterol pill torcetrapib, which had been projected to have more than $13 billion in annual sales.

Pfizer has closed research labs in Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo, Michigan; Nagoya, Japan; and Amboise, France, and fired more than 10,000 employees since January 2007. Pfizer previously said it will cut as much as $2 billion in costs this year throughout the company. It hasn't specified how many jobs will be lost.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shannon Pettypiece in New York at spettypiece@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 30, 2008 17:08 EDT