* Says rheumatoid arthritis pill has big potential
* Osteoarthritis drug targets knee pain
NEW YORK, April 2 (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) said on Thursday it has advanced two more drugs into late-stage patient studies, including an intravenous medicine for osteoarthritis and a pill for rheumatoid arthritis that might someday compete with costly biotech treatments.
Pfizer, in a periodic update, said overall company research objectives it outlined a year ago remain on track, including plans to have at least 24 and as many as 28 new drugs or new uses for existing drugs in Phase III studies by December 2009.
New York-based Pfizer, already the world's biggest drugmaker, is slated to acquire smaller rival Wyeth (WYE.N) later this year and did not include Wyeth's products in its tabulations.
One of the two Pfizer drugs recently moved into Phase III studies is a JAK inhibitor (CP-690,550), which it described as the first disease-modifying pill for rheumatoid arthritis in the past 10 years. Rheumatoid arthritis, which has a genetic link, involves damage to joints caused by an overactive immune system.
Briggs Morrision, Pfizer's senior vice president of development, said the company is hoping the pill will have the same degree of effectiveness as big-selling biotech drugs, including Abbott Laboratories Inc's (ABT.N) Humira and Wyeth's Enbrel.
"Our base assumption is that we're as good," said Morrison, although he noted JAK inhibitor may not have side-effect advantages over biotech treatments, which are given by injection or intravenous infusion.
The other Pfizer medicine entering Phase III studies is tanezumab, a monoclonal antibody that in earlier trials significantly reduced knee pain in patients with osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis which is caused by wear and tear of the joints. The drug targets a protein called nerve growth factor.
Just before laid out its scorecard on Thursday, the company disclosed a research setback for its Sutent cancer drug.
Pfizer said it stopped a late-stage study Sutent among patients with advanced breast cancer due to apparent lack of effectiveness, but is continuing with other studies among the hard-to-treat population.
Sutent is currently approved to treat cancers of the kidney and stomach.
Pfizer shares were down 0.4 percent in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Ransdell Pierson; Editing by Andre Grenon)
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