Pfizer will cut 300 jobs as it halts development of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s drugs

Pfizer will cut 300 jobs in Cambridge, Andover, and Groton, Conn., after the company said it would no longer try to develop Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s drugs, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The company said the cuts would occur over several months.

“This was an exercise to reallocate [spending] across our portfolio, to focus on those areas where our pipeline, and our scientific expertise, is strongest,” Pfizer said in a statement.

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An effective drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease has been a kind of Holy Grail in drug development because of heavy demand. Yet successful development of such a drug has been elusive.

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But other companies, including Cambridge-based Biogen, continue to pursue treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.

Pfizer, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, is headquartered in New York with its research center in Groton. It also maintains significant research and development operations in Cambridge and La Jolla, Calif.