Pfizer - Exubera: wonder or white elephant?

The air is leaking out of what was supposed to be the next big thing in the treatment of diabetes: inhalable insulin.

"While inhalable insulins will see a reasonable level of uptake, they aren't the surefire blockbuster they were hyped to be," says a new study by British market research firm Datamonitor PLC. It points out that the new treatment isn't significantly better than existing therapies, is expensive and its long-term safety in the lungs is unknown.

On the other hand, inhalable insulin represents a convenient and alternative delivery system for diabetics who have a needle phobia, and are reluctant to inject themselves with insulin to control blood sugar levels in the blood.

The World Health Organization estimates diabetes has infected 194 million people, and predicts the incidence will reach 360 million by 2030. So finding innovative ways to administer insulin promises blockbuster revenues for the pharmaceutical industry.

But this month Pfizer Inc. decided to postpone the widespread rollout of Exubera, its inhaled insulin, and the only product approved for sale. The rollout has been changed to January from November, which will be about 12 months after U.S. regulators cleared the drug. Pfizer cited manufacturing issues as part of the two-month delay.

The world's No. 1 drug maker said it will continue educating 5,000 specialists before kick-starting a marketing campaign to general practitioners. The novelty of the technology requires a big marketing investment by New York-based Pfizer, analysts say. Besides paying France's Sanofi-Aventis SA $1.3-billion (U.S.) for full rights to Exubera, Pfizer has spent more than $700-million to develop the drug.

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