Pharmas and Biotech: Vying for Outsize Insulin Profits

Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) has been struggling since 2007, when Pfizer (PFE) discontinued selling Nektar's Exubera inhaled insulin because of disappointing sales. Then Novartis (NVS) stepped in and bought Nektar’s pulmonary medicine delivery systems. It clearly sees profit where Pfizer didn’t. Nektar jettisoned its insulin inhaler, but still happily reported on its Q308 conference call that it had

retained all rights to [its] dominant inhaled insulin intellectual property.

Other biopharmaceuticals reported a variety of programs that they are developing to treat diabetes, noting how potentially lucrative the market is. 

From Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc.’s Q308 conference call: (HALO)

In terms of commercial opportunity, many refer to the rising incidence of diabetes as a worldwide epidemic and financial analysts estimate the growing Crandall [ph] insulin market at just over $3 billion in annual sales for the U.S. and Europe. So needless to say, this represents a substantial commercial opportunity.

Just last week, Halozyme began dosing type I diabetic patients in a Phase II clinical trial that will test two commercially available insulin products, Humalog, and Humulin R regular insulin with and without our PH20 hyaluronidase enzyme.

From Array BioPharma’s F1Q09 conference call: (ARRY)

We also disclosed this quarter on a new program on a novel small molecule glucokinase activator, GKA, ARRY-403 for the treatment of type-2 diabetes.

Array still continues to have quite a bit of interest [in programs like the Glucokinase] from pharmaceutical companies both large pharmaceutical companies and midsize companies in Europe and Japan. 

From DexCom Inc.’s Q308 conference call: (DXCM)

A quick update on our insulin pump partnership with Animas Corporation. We continue to make substantial progress on the joint development of an integrated insulin pump CGM System with Animas Corporation. Our continued goal is to... be positioned to launch our first product during the summer of 2009.

Obviously this is a very exciting time for DexCom. We believe that [a] partnership with Edwards allows us to take our technology into another particular area of glycemic control that is in reality far greater than our ambulatory world.

From Xoma Ltd.’s Q308 conference call: (XOMA)

In the third quarter of 2008 in a remarkable drive forward for the company and for diabetes patients, XOMA presented encouraging results for supporting one of the most significant medical advances in diabetes in decades that is a move from insulin-based therapy to anti-inflammatory treatment. For the first time we showed that a single dose of an interleukin-1 beta blocker, XOMA 052, increased insulin production up to 91 days in Type II diabetes patients, a remarkable finding.

MannKind in particular is reporting inroads in the inhaled product. Their outlook is remarkably upbeat after they took a beating in the aftermath of Pfizer’s move in April.

From MannKind Corp.’s Q308 conference call: (MNKD)

[Our trials] were far more extensive than those of others exploring inhalation of insulin, and we believe we have more than met the FDA's draft guidelines for pulmonary insulin that was published earlier this year.

Some of you have doubted that a relatively small company like MannKind can complete such a complex program and bring such a product to market, insisting that only a major pharma company could pull this off. To be sure, the job is not yet done, but consider what MannKind has already accomplished.

 

Comments

[jayminho:]

add generex (gnbt) to your list of insulins that back shot

2008 Nov 20 02:30 PM

[User 318175:]

you have over looked a small biotech Generex ( gnbt ) which is in third phase trials in the U.S. this company is already marketing there Inhaled device in other countries. There insulin inhaler is a small ahsma like inhaler and the insulin is absoarbed through the inner linning of the mouth.

2008 Dec 12 09:35 AM