Despite Sanofi’s “conflicted” management and subsequent abandonment of Afrezza, the market opportunity for inhaled insulin is still huge, according to Dance Biopharm's CEO.
Pfizer, Lilly and Novo Nordisk will not be revisiting inhaled insulin opportunities despite the US launch and expected success of Sanofi and MannKind’s Afrezza.
MannKind’s share price tumbled by 31 per cent yesterday, just days after it published encouraging safety data for Afresa, because it revealed a partnership deal is unlikely to occur in 2009.
MannKind’s inhaled insulin treatment, Technosphere, has met its study goal in the first of three Phase III trials, leading to Pfizer transferring its remaining Exubera patients to the treatment.
Pfizer has updated the US product labeling of its inhaled insulin
treatment Exubera to include a warning of increased risk of lung
cancer among those using it.
While the market performance of Exubera may have fallen short of
expectations, Pfizer's inhaled insulin has opened the door for a
wider variety of macromolecules to take the pulmonary delivery
route.
Novo Nordisk is planning to sue the head of the US Patent and
Trademark Office after its inhaled insulin product has had its
patent application knocked back for the second time.
MannKind has presented new data on its inhaled insulin product that
suggest it may not only make dosing the drug more convenient, but
also improve efficacy compared to insulin injections.