Pfizer Inc. Pill Targets Disease That Kills From the Feet Up

The patients are young adults, often in their 30s. The disease, known as TTR-FAP, starts with tingling in the feet. Then it moves up the body, destroying nerves and killing within a decade. Pfizer Inc., the world’s largest drugmaker, has a pill called tafamidis meglumine that may stem the tide of the rare genetic illness, keep patients’ bodies from wasting away and give them a chance at a full life. TTR-FAP, or Transthyretin Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy, was first detected near a village in Portugal, where it has ravaged families. Clusters also have been found in Japan and Sweden.