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 that 660 jobs will be lost at a Pfizer manufacturing facility in Terre Haute, Ind., a result of Pfizer Inc.'s decision to stop production of its inhaled insulin product Exubera.

Nat Ricciardi, president of Pfizer Global Manufacturing, announced Pfizer's decision to cut staff in Terra Haute because the company did not have another use for the specialized Indiana-based production facility.

Facility workers were told of the decision on Monday morning and that told layoffs would begin in March. The production facility employs about 800 workers in total and a majority of the affected employees are those hired within the last five years to produce Exubera. The remaining 140 workers will support the company's sterile manufacturing operation that included antibiotic production.

When the company announced plans in October to discontinue Exubera, it also said about 60 jobs would be lost at its manufacturing plant in Portage, Ind. They are among a total off 200 jobs the company has said will be cut here before the end of this year.

A Pfizer spokesperson said the company is "committed to providing whatever assistance our colleagues need, including internal job postings, job search tools, career and retirement counseling and severance benefits for those who leave the company." It appears that the Midwest is starting to feel pain associated with contraction of the pharmaceutical industry.

Until next time….

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting (forget the Midwest)!!!!!!!!!!

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The Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk announced today that it was halting further clinical development of its inhalable insulin product called AERx. AERx was in Phase 3 clinical testing as a short-term diabetes treatment. In a press release the company stated that it was halting development of its inhaled insulin compound because the drug was "unlikely to offer significant clinical or convenience benefits" versus current diabetes treatments.” AERx joins Exubera (Nektar Therapeutics/ Pfizer) on the inhalable insulin scrap heap. This leavesEli Lilly and Alkermes’ IR insulin system as the only inhalable short-acting diabetes treatment in Phase 3 clinical development.

Interestingly, Novo didn't say that it was giving up on developing inhalable insulins— only that it was halting its current late-stage AERx program. The company did announce that it plans to pursue a Glucagon_Like Protein (GLP-1) inhalable diabetes treatment which is similar to a product being developed by California-based MannKind. Its product in Phase 1 clinical testing. Unlike Nektar, which partnered with Pfizer to develop Exubera, MannKind, a small startup, is developing its inhalable insulin product alone. Novo also disclosed plans to develop a longer-acting injectable form of insulin which would eliminate the need for daily injections by patients with diabetes.

In theory, inhalable insulins make sense—many people hate daily injections. That said, inhalable insulins may create other problems that obviate their usefulness as alternatives to daily insulin injections-just ask Pfizer and Nektar about that!

Until next time….

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!!!

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First, there was the torcetrapib catastrophe and now the Exubera debacle. Pfizer announced late yesterday that it would stop selling Exubera, the first approved inhaled insulin product, less than two years after its approval. Despite heavy promotion by Pfizer, Exubera sales were tiny, with prescriptions amounting to less than 1% of the multi-billion dollar insulin market.

Once heralded as a potential blockbuster drug by industry analysts, Exubera was plagued with questions about its safety, efficacy, convenience and cost. The bottom line is that it worked no better than injected insulin and, results from clinical trials showed that Exubera could decrease patients’ breathing ability. This coupled with the appearance of the delivery device, which resembled a bong (not that there is anything wrong with that), contributed to the inability of Exubera to gain acceptance among patients and physicians.

Exubera was originally developed by Nektar, a small publicly traded California-based biotechnology company that specializes in inhalation technology and protein delivery systems that include PEGylation. Pfizer bought the marketing rights from Nektar and assumed responsibility for clinical development of Exubera.

Nobody knows how much Pfizer spent on developing and promoting Exubera, but the company took a $2.8 million charge yesterday to cover costs associated with the drug–making it one of the most expensive failures in the history of the pharmaceutical industry.

Despite its status as the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, things are not going well for Pfizer. The company has already consolidated operations and laid off thousands of workers a result of the torcetrapib mess. Further, the ripple effect that the Exubera debacle may have on Nektar and other companies like Eli Lilly that are developing similar inhalable insulin products is unknown at present. 

I do not think that the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries can withstand much more bad news. Pfizer’s  ongoing bad news, coupled with the GlaxoSmithKline’s Avandia mess and Amgen’s epoetin woes suggest that it may be a good time to load up  your portfolio with already “cheap” pharmaceutical and biotechnology stocks—there is only one way for these stocks to go—and that is up!

Until next time….

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!!!!

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