Pfizer's new drug targets disease which some don't agree exists

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) has launched a TV campaign marketing its new drug, Lyrica, targeting fibromyalgia.

Drug sales of Lyrica, which is also used to treat diabetic nerve pain and seizures, tallied almost $2 billion in 2007.

The New York Times has an interesting article out today that calls into question exactly what fibromyalgia is. As a person with friends who suffer from this nebulous condition, it is definitely debilitating.

Sufferers complain of chronic pain but also many other symptoms. The NY Times article quotes a survey of 2,500 fibromyalgia patients published in 2007 by the National Fibromyalgia Association which "indicated that 63 percent reported suffering from back pain, 40 percent from chronic fatigue syndrome, and 30 percent from ringing in the ears, among other conditions. Many also reported that fibromyalgia interfered with their daily lives, with activities like walking or climbing stairs."

Advocacy groups and doctors who treat fibromyalgia estimate that 2 to 4 percent of adult Americans, as many as 10 million people, suffer from the disorder.

Pfizer has done a good job bringing depression into the public arena with its successes introducing Prozac to the market. The pharmaceutical giant and sufferers of fibromyalgia hope to accomplish the same with Lyrica's success.

Zack Miller is the Managing Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com and a former equity analyst for a leading multinational hedge fund. Author does not own PFE.