Pfizer Says Patient Died in Oral RA Drug Study

Pfizer Inc. confirmed that one patient who was taking its drug candidate tofacitinib died of respiratory failure.

Pfizer Inc. confirmed that one patient who was taking its drug candidate tofacitinib, a pill designed to treat rheumatoid arthritis, died during a recent clinical trial and said the death was connected to the drug.

Tofacitinib, formerly called tasocitinib, is being tested as a treatment for moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic autoimmune disease that causes inflammation, usually of the hands and feet.

The world's largest drugmaker said the patient died of respiratory failure. Three other patients who were treated with tofacitinib during the study died as well, but the other three deaths were not determined to be drug-related. Two of those deaths occurred several weeks after the patients stopped taking tofacitinib.