Health Insurance Daily

Inhaled Insulin For Diabetics

Diabetics are getting an alternative to the regular needle jabs of insulin they've endured since the discovery in the 1920s of the hormone that controls blood sugar levels. Pfizer Inc. hopes to begin selling Exubera, the first inhalable version of insulin to win federal approval, by midyear.

Use of rapid-acting inhaled insulin will not replace the need to inject the hormone occasionally, the Food and Drug Administration said. It approved Exubera on Friday, a day after the multinational European Commission did so. Diabetics also will have to continue pricking their fingers to test blood sugar levels. But Exubera will provide an option for adults with type 1 or 2 diabetes who are reluctant to use the syringes, pens, and pumps currently needed to inject insulin, Pfizer said. In clinical trials, Exubera managed blood sugar levels just as well as injected insulin.

To read this article in its entirety, click on Diabetics.

posted by Mike @ 8:55 PM