Pharma's Market
SPECIAL REPORT
MOST SHARED
- FTSE, DAX, CAC Seen Lower, Greek Deal Delayed
- India's December Industrial Output Growth Slows Sharply
- Bonus Bloodbath as European Banker Backlash Continues
- Greece Deal Fails to Convince, EU Demands More
- Strip Greenspan of His Knighthood: SocGen Strategist
- Zynga, Hasbro Partner to Make Toys, Games
- Jobs You Can Do Forever
- Citigroup Takes $50 Million Loss in Libor Probe
- New York Fashion Week Hits the Runway as Colors Pop
- Mulling Buffett's Stock Advice? Get in With REITs: Fund Managers
- LinkedIn Earnings Bode Well for Hiring and Social Media
- Top Five Mistakes to Avoid in Online Dating
- Victor Cruz ‘Understands’ Gisele's Super Bowl Frustrations
- Tamminen: The United States of India
- Unusual Volume: Taleo Jumps After Oracle's $1.9 Billion Offer
- Warren Buffett: Stocks Will Outperform Gold and Bonds .. and They're Safer 'By Far'
- So Now You Can’t Give Microsoft Away?
- Citigroup Takes $50 Million Loss in Lending Rate Probe
- Investment Banking Drags Down Barclays Profit
- The Secret Lives of Traders—Seeking the Next Hot Thing
- FBI Investigated Steve Jobs Drug Use
- Strip Greenspan of His Knighthood: SocGen Strategist
- China Imports Slump, Raising Demand Concerns
- Markets Finally Get Greek Deal —So Where's the Rally?
- Warren Buffett: Stocks Will Outperform Gold and Bonds
- Get All the Latest Out of Europe Here
RSS FEED
Pfizer "Chokes" on Inhaled Diabetic Insulin
Text Size 
Reporter
 |
Exubera |
] is taking it off the market. And it has nothing to do with safety. It has everything to do with sales--or the lack, thereof. The world's biggest drug company only recently started direct-to-consumer advertising for Exubera, but it apparently didn't work. "Despite our best efforts, Exubera has failed to gain the acceptance of patients and physicians," Pfizer says in the earnings press release. "Told you so!!!!!," (the five exclamation points are his emphasis) is what David Kliff, "Diabetic Investor" newsletter editor writes in a note to subscribers this morning. When Pfizer and most analysts were forecasting Exubera would eventually become a billion-dollar blockbuster, Kliff, an injectable insulin-dependent diabetic, was like a voice in the wilderness.
He was predicting from the get-go that it wouldn't fly in large part because the device was so big--he compared it to the size of a "bong" (his word, not mine.). "Pfizer wasted billions trying to convince people that patients would use Exubera just because they did not have to inject insulin," Kiff writes. In fact, Pfizer says it'll spend $2.8 billion to get out from under Exubera.
On the bombshell news shares of Nektar Therapeutics [NKTR
Loading...
()
]Pfizer's Exubera partner, are trading at a new low this morning. Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, Alkermes and Mannkind are all working on inhalable insulin products as well. So, what does this mean for them? Kliff says, "While many will see this as (the) end of inhaled delivery of insulin, Diabetic Investor doesn't see it that way. With the epidemic growth rate of diabetes and the increasing usage of insulin with type 2 patients, there is a market for an inhaled form of insulin. Hopefully the companies that have inhaled systems under development will learn from Pfizer's many mistakes with Exubera."
Goldman Sachs pharma analyst James Kelly in a research note to clients this morning calls PFE's decision "prudent" and thinks it will likely be well-received by investors. In early trading, at least, that appears to be the case. But after it spends the nearly $3 billion dollars to get out of the inhalable insulin business, Pfizer will be under even more pressure to put its remaining, but still huge amount of cash to work buying new products and/or companies.
Goldman Sachs has done investment banking for PFE and wants to do more. A GS Director also sits on the PFE Board. And the firm makes a market in PFE shares.
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
