Pfizer publishes grants online

Pfizer has posted a list of the $10 million (500,651 million pounds) in grants and donations it made during the first quarter of 2008, reports redOrbit.

The company said it published this list of gifts it gave to patient, scientific and medical organisations “part of an ongoing drive throughout the company to increase transparency”.

The largest grant given was $3.4 million to the California Academy of Family Physicians.

It was given to help fund a three-year campaign to help stop smoking.

A further $500,000 was given to the Family Health International organisation for treatment and education of malaria.

Pfizer will update the list of grants each quarter.

The move follows recent efforts for transparency which include releasing information around political contributions in 2002 and posting the results of clinical trials in 2004.

In other news, last year Pfizer launched the Celsentri (maraviroc) drug for HIV in November of last year. It was the first oral class of treatment for the virus to be created in ten years.