FDA Approves Inhalable Version of Insulin

[GregGolden]

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=1550077

[valc3]

I'm sure it will work for some people. I'll stick with the needles.

[Harold]

Now we wait to see how the public miuses this device.

Wonder how long the insulin is good for it one of these.

:topic: Notice how the media in every story states how type 2 is linked to obesity. Even if the story is not directly about type 2, it's beginning to piss me off! Looks like they are trying to shape public opinion to someones ends. Sure it won't be ours.

[gettingby]

I received an email about this from WebMD. Gonna go read it now.

[KrisinNM]

What a waste of research money!!!:mad: NBC called it "the biggest breakthrough since the discovery of insulin." Hogwash!!!! And only adults can use it. But not if you smoke or have any sort of lung disease. What will they try to foist on us next?

[notme]

I don't think you could get the tiny dosing that you can get from the insulin pump. There are some days that I use a very small dose as a correction or for something small that I eat. I also would like to know what inhaing insulin into your lungs will do to your lungs. Since my Dad was diagnosed with lung cancer, I am pretty wary of using my lungs for insulin delivery. I think I will wait this one out.

Have you seen the size of the inhaler??? You will need a good sized backpack to lug it around with you.

[bac4uw]

I'm not that afraid of needles! I'm too afraid of polluting my lungs more than the city air already does!

I guess I've been intently waiting and watching for this inhaler device, but it's more out of curiousity than anything else. I wonder if they actually tested this device out on kids and found it harmful/ineffective, or if Pfizer only tested it out on adults to more easily pass it through the FDA. I know they've been conducting some longterm studies (> 10 years), but in the life of a diabetic kid or young adult - 10 years just isn't that long.

Bryan

[amccrazgrl]

I don't think i'd inhale insulin.
I prefer my pump.

[miniaye]

Hi,
I am writing an article on Exubera, the inhalable form of insulin the FDA just approved. I'm wondering if any of you will take it when it becomes available, and if not, why not? Please email me at aha2109@columbia.edu if you don't mind me writing about you.
Thanks
Ayesha

[Cinnabon]

Exubera's price could be a hurdle for subscribers of some health plans, analysts say. As a rule, health plans provide incentives for their subscribers to choose cheaper remedies over newer, more expensive therapies.

If managed-care plans decide to cover Exubera, analysts predict it will be placed in an expensive tier of a health plan's preferred drug list, known as a formulary. A patient might face a monthly drug co-payment as high as $40 to $50 for Exubera compared with $10 to $25 for injected insulin, insurers and analysts say.
Exubera dosages will vary by patient, Pfizer says, but each prescription will include 30 days of insulin. Analysts say Exubera's price will compete more along the lines of oral diabetes brands.

If Pfizer has to defend the high price of Exubera, analysts expect the drugmaker to compare the inhaled drug to oral diabetes therapies that can cost $150 or more a month.

[seacomp]

Exubera dosage control is lousy. Apparently there is a 1mg dose and a 3mg dose which works out to 10 and 30 units. The inhaled form is less potent than injected, how much I don't know, but still anything like dosing in units of 10 is not relevant for insulin dependent diabetics. Also 3 1mg units is significantly more potent than 1 3mg units! (This info from Pfizer press release on Europen Commission ok on Exubera).
The press coverage plays up "no more painful needles", but the real market is for Type IIs who either are not controlled at all or could use a supplement to save their pancreas from burning out. For a Type II who still produces insulin, the dosage problem is not as server as long as the Exubera is used for only partial coverage.

[seacomp]

Exubera as could be expected is a fast acting insulin. Anyone needing a basal dose of insulin, which is everyone insulin-dependent, must still take one or two shots of Lantus for any serious attempt at control.

[palefacegirl03]

Have you seen the size of the inhaler??? You will need a good sized backpack to lug it around with you.

Just wait there will be a special backpack designed just for carring the inhaler in.

I think I will pass on this, me and my needles are doing fine.