Millions of Americans with diabetes got great news this weekend! This is due to the recent news of the FDA approving a progressive drug called Afrezza which helps users with diabetes inhale insulin rather than having to inject themselves. The New York Times reports on this story below!
[NY Times Excerpt]
–“The approval of the drug, Afrezza, is a milestone in a long and expensive journey for its developer, MannKind Corporation, and for its chief executive, Alfred E. Mann, an 88-year-old billionaire who spent a big part of his fortune sustaining the company through various setbacks.
“Today’s F.D.A. action validates the years of clinical research and commitment that powered the development of this unique therapy,” Mr. Mann said in a statement Friday.
But MannKind still faces the challenge of selling the drug, which was approved for adults with either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes.
An earlier inhaled insulin, Pfizer’s Exubera, flopped miserably and was withdrawn from the market. MannKind also has not signed up a larger pharmaceutical company to help market Afrezza, even though it has said for years that it was in discussions with potential partners.
The approval “is obviously going to help that process,” Matthew J. Pfeffer, the company’s chief financial officer, said in an interview on Friday, adding that Afrezza would not be available to patients until a partner was ready.
He also said Afrezza would have a better chance of success than Exubera because “it’s a very different product, very much a next-generation product.” The inhaler for Afrezza is about the size of a referee’s whistle while Exubera’s was the size of a tennis ball can.”—
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