Uncertainty over inhaled insulin
The Motley Fool has an article about Nektar Therapeutics, specifically about their inhaled insulin formulation, Exubera. The author, Stephen Simpson, seems to think that Exubera might not pay off as well as most industry types think it will. While it's true that trying something so radically new as inhaled insulin is somewhat risky, the potential for such a drug is enormous, particularly given that it allows something so basic and appealing as allowing people to stop sticking themselves with needles. I appreciate Mr. Simpson's caution, but I think that Exubera is going to be a big hit. Granted, it is unknown whether the major pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) will cover Exubera, but many other expensive "lifestyle" drugs are often not covered, but they can still do quite well. Caremark seems to allude to the fact that they might cover it (PDF), but Express Scripts, on the other hand, makes no mention of it. Express, does however, tell us that they "never recommend switching from a lower-priced drug to a higher-priced drug" which is no surprise to anyone. What will drive insurers to cover it will be demand: a patient gets a coupon from their doctor for a free inhaler and they find they like it much better than injecting themselves every couple of hours, so they jump ship to another PBM that does cover it.
Of course this is a moot point for those at higher risk for respiratory issues (asthma sufferers, smokers, etc.) as they will be excluded from using Exubera entirely. Standard disclaimers also recommended that healthy patients have their lung function tested every six months just to be safe.
Were I in a position to purchase more stock, I would definitely consider adding Nektar to my list of companies to watch. They spent a ton of money on developing the system that allows insulin to be inhaled — Forbes has a great article on its engineering backstory — and if (when) it goes big this will have been money well-spent on their part. And if not, Nektar still has their process that it could license to other big pharmaceutical companies — or even other industries, aerospace, for instance — provided it hasn't sold its soul to Pfizer.
[tags]Medicine, pharmacy, Exubera, Nektar Therapeutics, inhaled insulin, diabetes, insulin, Pfizer[/tags]
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