Pharmaprojects R&D Pipeline News Feed
Second inhaled insulin product disappoints
22 Jan 2008
Following the recent withdrawal by Pfizer from its deal to co-market Exubera, Novo Nordisk has halted development of its own inhaled insulin, AERx iDMS, which was developed with the AERx delivery system licensed from Aradigm. AERx iDMS was nearing completion of Phase III trials, with a US filing expected in 2009.
Exubera was originally developed by Nektar Therapeutics before being taken on by Pfizer, which collaborated with Sanofi-Aventis in a bid to break into the Novo Nordisk- and Eli Lilly-dominated American insulin market. Once Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly also formed alliances with companies developing inhaled insulin, the firms were in a race to corner the market - Sanofi-Aventis and Pfizer for instance invested US$140 million in building an insulin production plant. In 2006, Pfizer paid Sanofi-Aventis $1.3 billion for full rights to Exubera and the production plant. However, following launch in 2006 Exubera sales were a long way from reaching its expected blockbuster status.
In a future prospects analysis, Novo Nordisk decided that the modern pen devices for injectable insulin as well as the established market presence of long-acting insulin meant AERx iDMS was simply not competitively viable enough to take the financial risk of filing, launching and marketing. In a rapid turnaround, Novo Nordisk has decided instead to redirect its inhalation-delivery development into long-acting inhaled insulin and GLP-1 formulations. Eli Lilly and Alkermes still appear committed to inhaled insulin, which they are developing as long- and short-acting formulations. While it would seem that there could still be a future for inhaled insulin, pharmaceutical companies are under increasing pressure in a crowded healthcare market to bring something new to the table.
