Pfizer’s investigational P-selectin blocker inclacumab was unable to reduce high-level pain episodes in a Phase III sickle cell disease study, marking another disappointment from the pharma’s $5.4 billion acquisition of Global Blood Therapeutics.Inclacumab was being tested in the Phase III THRIVE-131 trial, a 48-week undertaking with more than 240 patients enrolled. The double-blinded and placebo-controlled study specifically recruited patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) who had suffered from two to 10 vaso-occlusive crises (VOC), painful recurrent episodes occurring in SCD, in the previous year. The primary endpoint was the rate of VOCs over the entire treatment period.Details were scant in Pfizer’s press announcement on Friday. The pharma didn’t provide specific data, only announcing that “THRIVE-131 results did not meet our expectations,” with inclacumab failing to significantly lower VOC rate every 12 weeks over the 48-week study. Inclacumab treatment was associated with adverse effects like anemia, back pain, upper respiratory tract infections, headaches and sickle cell anemia with crisis.Pfizer likewise didn’t reveal its future plans for inclacumab, only saying that it remains “focused on our mission of bringing much-needed treatments to patients with sickle cell disease.” The company is currently analyzing THRIVE-131’s results and will share its findings with the scientific community in the future, as per its Friday release.Inclacumab is an investigational antibody that works by targeting the P-selectin protein, a cell adhesion molecule that helps platelets clump together. In SCD, P-selectin is known to play a central role in VOCs. Inclacumab prevents platelets from aggregating and promotes the healthy flow of blood.Pfizer obtained inclacumab in August 2022, when it dropped $5.4 billion to acquire blood specialist Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT). Over the years, the GBT buy has turned out to be a bad bet for Pfizer.In March 2024, Pfizer discontinued a Phase III trial for inclacumab, citing slow enrollment. Despite launching the study in December 2021, the trial had only recruited 78 patients out of its target sample of 280. At the time, Pfizer said it still eyed a 2026 approval for inclacumab.A few months later, in September 2024, Pfizer decided to pull the sickle cell disease therapy Oxbryta from the market after detecting an elevated risk of deaths and complications in treated patients. Oxbryta was the centerpiece of the GBT deal.Before being withdrawn, Pfizer estimated that Oxbryta could hit worldwide peak sales of $3 billion.This series of GBT setbacks, along with other alleged dealmaking missteps, put Pfizer in the sights of activist investor Starboard Value, which in October 2024—just weeks after Oxbryta’s market exit—carved out a $1 billion stake in the pharma. In a corporate presentation at the time, Starboard called Pfizer’s acquisition of GBT “failed,” claiming that it “raised serious questions about its [business development] capabilities.”, By Padmanabhan Ananthan (Reuters) -In the latest setback for Pfizer's sickle cell anemia treatments, experimental drug inclacumab failed to meet the main goal in a late-stage trial for patients , Pfizer’s sickle cell disease (SCD) drug has flunked a key phase 3 test, the latest blow to the pharma’s $5.4 billion acquisition of Global Blood Therapeutics. Pfizer acquired the P-selectin .