Shares of Novo Nordisk dropped 2.4% in Copenhagen after the drugmaker decided to discontinue all further development of AERx inhaled insulin system.
"In simply looking at the market and the convenience of our device, we decided it is not really there," Novo Nordisk spokesman Christian Qvist Frandsen said.
Frandsen said Novo Nordisk plans to lay off the majority of its 300-person team developing the product, based primarily in Hayward, California.
"We will continue to research inhaled insulin powder and inhaled liquid insulin, but starting from scratch," Frandsen said.
The move will hurt 2007 operating profit with a non-recurring cost of 1.3 billion Danish kroner ($257 million).
Patients who are currently participating in Phase 3 clinical trials with AERx will be switched to treatment alternatives recommended by their doctors.
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