LyrArc Article Gist
The reasons Exubera was conceived by Pfizer, the events leading to the persistance with backing Exubera with large investments in manufacturing and marketing and buying out Sanofi's stake in the face of repeated setbacks, the difficulties posed by a insulin inhaler from the very beginning. Bulkiness the size of a flashlight this inhaler was embarrassing to use in public, it required regular lung exams because the FDA placed a warning on theproduct because only 10% of the product went where it was intended and 90% was inhaled into the lungs and who knows what that could do especially for asthmatics but also for others. It cost twice as much instead of $2 or 3 it cost $5 per day. And the 3 milligram packet had to be loaded into the inhaler which required instructions on how to use, one doctor saying it woul take an hour to educate a patient compared to 5 minutes for an insulin pen. Abbott and Lilly have insulin inhalers that they are bringing to market in 2009. Abbott's uses aerosol insulin instead of powder, Lilly's is the size of a cellphone. Will they work for customers? Pfizer attributed as key cause of the failure to the need for regular lung exams because of the regulator's warnings for insulin inhaled into the lungs. Are Lilly and Abbott taking this problem seriously?