New York - US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced on Friday it is pulling off the market its blood pressure drug Thelin due to a potentially life-threatening risk of liver injury.
Pfizer said it was voluntarily withdrawing Thelin in the European Union, Canada and Australia and is also suspending all clinical tests on the anti-hypertension drug.
"While liver toxicity is a known complication of the class of drugs to which Thelin belongs, a new potentially life-threatening idiosyncratic risk of liver injury with Thelin has been observed," Pfizer said in a statement.
"Given the availability of alternate treatments, Pfizer has concluded that the overall benefit of Thelin no longer outweighs the risk in the general population of PAH (pulmonary arterial hypertension) patients."
The company said it had notified health authorities about its findings and its decision to withdraw Thelin from the market and stop clinical studies.