This week's I TOLD YOU SO!

One year ago, on August 16, 2006, when Pfizer still had high hopes for Exubera, I wrote the following about Pfizer's insulin inhaler:

"And this year Exubera was launched, an insulin inhaler used for the treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes that has blockbuster potential. According to Pfizer. But look at the Exubra inhaler! It is BIG. A foot long, when unfolded, which makes it feel like a baseball bat. Think your girlfriend would like to haul that out of her handbag while seated in a restaurant? Common sense, folks. Common sense. NO ONE would be caught dead with this foot long pocket rocket in their pocket. Or handbag."

Now Pfizer's vice chairman, David Shedlarz, is admitting that I was right. He said: "Exubera was not our finest day. We made a lot of mistakes with what is a profoundly important therapeutic."

An even blunter assessment was offered by Howard Robin, chief executive of Nektar, which gets royalty and other payments from Pfizer totaling up to 18 percent of the product's net sales, according to some analyst estimates.

During his own call with analysts in May, Robin called Exubera one of the "worst performing products for a new launch that I can ever recall," adding that Pfizer executives "have really done a poor job" selling it.

There is no word about what Pfizer's current CEO, Jeff Kindler, is thinking. Perhaps he doesn't know what to say. After all, a year ago he'd spent only four years in the drug industry, working on lawsuits and legal stuff as general counsel and not a single year in marketing or sales.

As for Hank McKinnell, former Pfizer CEO who made the decision to launch the bong, and then walked away with a cool $200 million in his knapsack last year, clearly shareholders didn't get what they paid for.

Because, when Pfizer was finally going to show the world that they could market an innovative product, they went with the bong and fell on their faces with a bang.

- Peter Rost, M.D. is a former VP of Pfizer and the author of Killer Drug and The Whistleblower.

Comments

[Scott]

You are not alone in your prediction. Many people within the diabetes community made similar forecasts (including me), albeit for different reasons. For example, I noted when it was launched, Pfizer knowingly decided to abandon the worldwide standard of measure, which all but prevents the entire type 1 population (all of whom are insulin dependent) from using Exubera. Although the type 1 market is smaller than the massive type 2 market, no one can hope to succeed in the insulin market without considering them into the equation. Also, that meant more work for doctors to convert dosages, which meant that many couldn't be bothered.

The fact is that Pfizer did not do their homework when launching this product, and that's the real reason it failed. The bong may be the most visible example of that, but its certainly not the only reason!