Pfizer announced Tuesday it will discontinue production of an experimental SSRI following early clinical trial data suggesting a potential, though statistically unverified, association with vivid nocturnal encounters involving former mid-level colleagues.
Pfizer voluntarily suspended phase three trials of the experimental serotonin modulator PRX-410 this week after a randomized, double-blind cohort of 400 test subjects logged an elevated frequency of parasomnias featuring individuals they briefly shared an open-plan office with in 2017. According to a preliminary, non-peer-reviewed preprint submitted to JAMA Psychiatry, researchers noted a statistically significant cluster of subjects dreaming they were trapped in a windowless conference room with an old logistics coordinator. However, study authors were quick to warn against drawing definitive conclusions, noting that self-reported sleep diaries are notoriously vulnerable to recall bias.
The pharmaceutical giant stressed that while the adverse events are notable, the existing data cannot definitively establish a causal link between the compound and dreaming about someone named Dan asking for a quarterly report.
While the data indicates a correlation between the medication and dreaming about a former desk-mate asking if you have seen their Tupperware, it is entirely possible that these subjects simply checked LinkedIn too close to bedtime.
The FDA issued a cautious advisory note Tuesday morning, reminding clinicians that the presence of former regional sales directors in a patient's REM cycle is a known, if poorly understood, risk factor associated with several classes of reuptake inhibitors. Agency officials emphasized that the protocol for measuring these events remains fundamentally flawed due to numerous confounding variables. Regulators pointed out that participants often struggled to accurately identify whether the figure in their dream was genuinely the payroll specialist from their previous employer, or merely an amalgamation of several different supply-chain analysts they had encountered over their careers.
Pfizer executives disclosed they will now pivot developmental resources toward a separate, early-stage compound, which observational literature suggests may only induce mild, clinically manageable night terrors about forgetting a high school locker combination. The manufacturer cautioned investors that the findings regarding PRX-410 remain purely associative, stressing that more comprehensive, longitudinal research is needed before medical science can definitively blame a pill for an involuntary dream about making small talk near a commercial copier.