US FDA accepts diabetes drug application by Sanofi-Aventis, Pfizer

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2005

PARIS (AFP) — The US Food and Drug Administration has accepted a new drug application by French pharmaceutical group Sanofi-Aventis and Pfizer of the United States for Exubera, a dry powder form of insulin that is inhaled into the lungs prior to eating, the companies said.

The companies want to provide Exubera to adult patients with type 1 (the most serious) and type 2 diabetes, a joint statement said.

Exubera is currently also under review by the European Medicines Evaluation Agency.

The treatment has been tested on more than 3,400 patients, some for more than seven years, the statement said.

"It is estimated that nearly 180 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes, and the number is expected to rise to 300 million people in the next 20 years,"...