Four Days.

That's how long it took for Schoengold Sporn Laitman & Lometti, P.C. to announce that the firm had filed a securities class action lawsuit against Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) stemming from the company's December 2, 2006 announcement that they were suspending clinical trials of torcetrapib.

The question was posed on December 4, 2006 by the WSJ Law Blog, here.

The complaint was filed on behalf of the Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association Local 831 Pension Fund in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Torcetrapib is a CETP inhibitor, which work by blocking an enzyme that transforms HDL (the so-called good cholesterol) into LDL (the bad cholesterol). Pfizer had intended to sell Lipitor (an LDL lowering drug) in combination with torcetrapib.

According to the law firm's press release, in a clinical trial of torcetrapib involving 15,000 patients:

82 patients died taking torcetrapib/Lipitor combination as compared to only 51 patients taking Lipitor alone, and patients taking torcetrapib showed an increase in angina, congestive heart failure and procedures to clear clogged arteries.

According to an AP article, other drugmakers, including Roche Holding AG and Merck & Co., are reportedly developing CETP inhibitors.

Daily Trivia: The Schoengold firm has quite a diverse list of clients, ranging from the Association of Theatrical Press Agents & Managers Pension and Welfare Funds, to the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen - Local 56 Health & Welfare Fund, to the Soft Drink and Brewery Workers Union Local 812 Retirement Fund.

According to a history of ATPAM, Milton Weintraub the late secretary-treasurer of the union "developed the first union pension and welfare funds."