Pfizer dumps ExuberaGeorge S. Mack1
Columbia, South CarolinaIntroductionFrank Rumpenhorst, Newscom.comMany point to Exubera's bulky inhaler as a reason behind poor sales.After 11 years of development and barely one full year of sales, New York–based Pfizer dumped the much-anticipated inhaled powder insulin product Exubera on 18 October. This was particularly bad news for partner and product originator Nektar Therapeutics, of San Carlos, California. But the question on many minds is: does this represent the death knell for the inhaled-insulin market?Developing Exubera (recombinant human insulin with particle diameters between 1 and 5 mm) was a massive technical achievement, involving the stabilization of the insulin molecule to make it bioavailable in the dry powder form. It was the first insulin product that did not need to be injected, so when it was approved in January 2006, there were high expectations: analysts estimated annual sales to be from $1 billion to $4 billion, and Nektar envisioned years of royalties. But the product had sales of just $12 million for the first 9 months of 2007, and it cost Pfizer $2.8 billion in pretax charges to walk away—which is rarely done when a drug has no safety or efficacy issues
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