European regulators suspended the approval of Pfizer Inc.’s sickle cell anemia drug, Oxbryta, citing a higher rate of disease complications in patients who started taking the drug.The move comes less than a day after Pfizer abruptly announced a worldwide withdrawal of the drug,

Pfizer’s decision Wednesday to pull its sickle cell pill off the market because of safety concerns shocked advocates and doctors, leaving many searching for answers and scrambling for ways to notify their patients about a drug that has long divided the community.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday alerted patients and healthcare professionals about the withdrawal of Pfizer's sickle cell disease treatment Oxbryta.