October 22, 2007

Volume 1 Number 34
Brought to you by Thomas Jefferson University’s Department of Health Policy

Weak Sales Prompt Pfizer to Cancel Diabetes Drug

Pfizer said on 10/18 that it would stop selling Exubera, its inhaled insulin, less than two years
after introducing the drug. Despite Pfizer’s heavy promotion, Exubera’s sales were minuscule,
with prescriptions amounting to less than 1 percent of the insulin market. Pfizer will take a
charge of $2.8 billion for costs associated with Exubera, making it one of the most expensive
failures in the history of the pharmaceutical industry. Exubera’s end is another black eye for
Pfizer, the world’s biggest drug company, which has sustained a series of recent reversals. The
abrupt discontinuation also calls into question whether inhaled insulin — once viewed as a
potential multibillion-dollar market worldwide — will ever be able to compete with conventional
injectable insulin as a treatment for diabetes (Alex Berenson, New York Times, 10/19).

FDA: Issues Advisory on Link Between Diabetes Rx, Pancreatitis

FDA on Tuesday issued a public health advisory to warn physicians and patients about a
potential link between the diabetes medication Byetta, co-marketed by Amylin Pharmaceuticals
and Eli Lilly, and acute pancreatitis, the Wall Street Journal reports (Corbett Dooren, Wall Street
Journal, 10/17). According to FDA officials, the agency has received 30 reports of acute
pancreatitis among patients who took Byetta, and 27 of those patients had at least one other risk
factor for the condition. In 22 of the reports, the conditions of patients improved after they ended
treatment with Byetta (Bloomberg/Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/17). The advisory recommended
that physicians monitor patients who take Byetta for symptoms of acute pancreatitis -- persistent,
severe abdominal pain that can move to the back, as well as nausea and vomiting -- and suspend
their treatment with the medication in suspected cases (AmericanHealthLine, 10/18).

MEDICAL SCHOOLS: Department Heads Have Ties With Rx Companies

About 60% of department heads at medical schools and teaching hospitals in the U.S. have
personal financial relationships with pharmaceutical or medical device companies, according to a
study published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. For the
study researchers sent a survey to department heads at all 125 accredited medical schools and the
15 largest teaching hospitals in the U.S. About two-thirds of department heads responded to the
survey. According to the study, 27% of respondents said that they recently had served as paid
consultants, and the same percentage said that they had served on a company scientific advisory
board. In addition, about 21% of respondents who headed departments of medical specialties
with close relationships to patient care said that they had served on an industry speaker bureau,
the study found (AmericanHealthLine, 10/17).
More at: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/298/15/1779

Any questions regarding this newsletter can be directed

to Vittorio Maio at vittorio.maio@jefferson.edu.