Pfizer: Exubera is a “valuable new option”

Pfizer has said that Exubera is a “valuable new option” that could encourage the earlier acceptance of insulin in patients with type-II diabetes.

Exubera, like Eli Lilly’s AIR, is an inhaled insulin treatment that is already available in Ireland and Germany. New data for phase III trials was revealed at the American Diabetes Association’s annual scientific meeting. It was discovered that blood sugar levels for type-II diabetes Exubera users were comparable to those using injected insulin users. However, Exubera patients on average gained 1.3 kilograms less in terms of weight than those using injected insulin. The adverse side effects were similar for both groups, other than the development of a cough in some Exubera users.

Similar results were displayed for type-I diabetes patients.

Dr Julio Rosenstock, lead investigator from the Dallas Diabetes and Endocrine Center at Medical City, remarked: “These findings are important because they confirm that people who switched from rapid-acting injectable insulin to Exubera experienced no loss of blood sugar control.”

“Overall, Exubera is a valuable new option that could lead to earlier acceptance of insulin among people with type-II diabetes, and potentially reduce the debilitating and costly complications associated with the disease,” he concluded.

Pfizer says Exubera is the first inhaled insulin and the first insulin in over 80 years that does not need to be injected. NICE states that it expects its appraisal of inhaled insulin to be issued in October 2006.

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