Exubera to be Discontinued by Pfizer
Monday October 22, 2007
Pfizer Inc. has announced that it will discontinue manufacturing Exubera, an inhaled form of insulin. A press release that is posted on the Exubera website states that the decision to stop making Exubera had nothing to do with the safety of the drug. There simply are not enough people who take Exubera, to justify the expense of making the drug.
Exubera will gradually be phased out over the next three months, to give plenty of time for Exubera users to see their doctors and obtain comparable insulin treatment options.
Comments
How can they do this. My son who is 22 and a diabetic has been eagerly looking forward to trying Exhubera. He passed all the pre-tests only to find out the night before he is to go get the inhaler, it is going to be discontinued. Before they pull the plug they might want to give the diabetics time to find out about it and try it. This is riduculous and just another dissappointment my son will have to endure. Can this be changed? What can I as a parent do?
Please someone help me here. I appreciate any help or futher info.
Respectfully,
Karen Wray
Hi Karen,
I’m not sure if it will help but you could try writing to Pfizer and letting them know how you feel. If enough people let them know, maybe it will influence them.
Here’s the URL for their contact form. http://www.pfizer.com/contact/mail_general.jsp
Good luck to you and your son,
Deb Manzella RN
diabetes.guide@about.com
I am saddened to hear you will not have Exhubera available to diabetics. I have a son with diabetics and have waited for this for so long, as have many others. Do you know what it is to give yourself four injections daily? I believe you did not advertise the use of Exhubera at all. Had enough people seen it, I am sure many would be using it. I can honestly say I never once saw a single advertisement for the use of Exhubera? Why??
The decision to discontinue Exubera was made by the company that manufactured the drug, Pfizer. We at About.com do not have anything to do with that decision. It is up to Pfizer whether they advertise a drug, and it is up to Pfizer to keep a drug on the market or to discontinue it.
I understand your frustrations. Perhaps you could write to Pfizer and tell them how you feel?
Pfizer Inc
235 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017
USA
Phone: 1-212-733-2323
Deb
I have been a type one diabetic since the age of 4 (26 years) and I was on exhubera for about 8 months. You should all be glad your friends and family did not get to try this drug. While on exhubera my sugar was very hard to manage because the delivery system was not very accurate. Sometime it seemed that I did not take any, other times it was way too powerful. In addition simple tasks like walking up stairs or any thing of strenuous activity would leave me short of breath. After taking myself off of it my A1c’s dropped from above 10 down to mid 7’s. I went back to injections after exhubera and was not able to tame my sugars once they were so far out of whack. I am now on a minimed insulin pump which I was totally against up to the day I tried it. The pump has been my saving grace. I would recommend it to any diabetic no matter what kind of lifestyle they live.
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