Well it went up $0.21 for at least one trade this morning. <G>
I'm beginning to suspect that the market is uneasy about the lawsuit; and that the stock won't go up much prior to its resolution.
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Pfizer: More Patients Would Use Insulin With Exubera
djones
COPENHAGEN -(Dow Jones)- U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. (PFE) on
Thursday published new research data on its inhaled insulin Exubera, which
showed the new diabetes treatment would encourage more patients with type two
diabetes to accept insulin treatment, even in countries that already have easy-
to-use insulin pens.
According to the new data, which was presented at the European Association for
the Study of Diabetes, or EASD conference in Copenhagen on Thursday, 44% of
patients with uncontrolled type two diabetes would be encouraged to accept
insulin therapy with Exubera as an option, compared to only 17% when Exubera
wasn't presented as an option.
Exubera this summer became the first inhaled insulin to enter the European and
U.S. markets. It was launched in Germany in May and in the U.S. in September and
Pfizer has said it expects the drug to become a blockbuster, exceeding $1
billion in annual sales.
However, the future of Exubera is dependent on a lawsuit regarding the patent
of the treatment, filed by Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) in August. The competing
Danish pharmaceutical company claims Exubera infringes its patents covering
methods of administering inhaled insulin to diabetics, and a hearing is expected
in New York early December.
Further studies about Exubera which were presented at the conference showed
that less weight gain was observed in patients using Exubera compared to
patients using injected insulin and that the treatment could, contrary to what
some had feared, be used when patients suffered from chest infections and in
smoky environments.
According to the data, patients with type one diabetes gained a mean of 0.2
kilograms on Exubera compared with 1.1 kilograms on injected insulin over six
months.
Patients with type two diabetes gained 0.7 kilograms using Exubera compared
with 1.6 kilograms using injected insulin.
Contrary to the effect of active smoking, the data showed that passive smoking
reduces the rate and extent of inhaled insulin absorption, hence it doesn't
present an increased risk of hypoglycemia, Pfizer said.
However, patients who smoke, suffer from asthma or get severe lung infections
such as pneumonia shouldn't use Exubera.
Pfizer developed Exubera together with Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) and the
treatment was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in January 2006.
According to the International Diabetes Federation, more than 230 million
people suffer from diabetes worldwide and the number is expected to grow to 350
million by 2025.
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