Free Republic

When the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products licensed Pfizer's Exubera as the first inhaled insulin this year, it was welcomed as the most important development in diabetes treatment since the advent of insulin in the 1920s. Inhaled insulin had shown similar efficacy, but better quality of life scores and patient preference profiles, to short-acting subcutaneous insulin in several randomised studies in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Data on adverse events led to Exubera being contraindicated for smokers and not recommended for people with underlying lung diseases, such...

FRIDAY, Jan. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Exubera, the first inhaled insulin treatment for diabetes, won approval from U.S. regulatory officials on Friday. The long-awaited action by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration means millions of people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes may have the option of avoiding the needles and countless injections that have marked their lives so far. "This is highly positive. It will be a major advance for individuals with diabetes, both children and adults," said Dr. Robert Rapaport, director of the division of pediatric endocrinology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York...