Pfizer’s Arthritis Pill Backed by U.S. FDA Advisory Panel

Pfizer Inc.’s experimental pill to treat rheumatoid arthritis, one of the drugmaker’s leading therapy candidates, should be approved by U.S. regulators, an advisory panel said.

Pfizer, the world’s largest drugmaker, is seeking to sell the pill, tofacitinib, for patients who don’t respond to other rheumatoid arthritis treatments. A panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended in an 8-2 vote today in Silver Spring, Maryland, that the agency clear the drug for sale. The FDA isn’t required to follow the panel’s advice.