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19/04/2006
Insulin inhaler rejected as too 'costly'
An inhaler which would allow diabetes sufferers to inhale, rather than inject insulin has been rejected for use in the NHS by the government's medicines watchdog.
The drug, Exubera, would offer sufferers an alternative to injecting themselves with insulin several times per day.
However, the drug costs around £1,100 per person per year, around £500 more than insulin injections.
Around 800,000 diabetes sufferers in the UK use insulin injections to control their condition.
The draft guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, said that injecting insulin was “not usually a concern” for the majority of people with diabetes and said that it could not fully replace the injected form – patients would still need injections at night to measure glucose levels in the blood – and could not be proven to be more clinically or cost effective.
Charity Diabetes UK said that it was “disappointed” by the decision, describing the treatment as a “medical breakthrough”. The charity said that new treatments “should not be restricted because of costs” and that greater emphasis should be placed on patient choices.
Drug manufacturer Pfizer said that trials had shown that inhaled insulin was as effective as injected insulin.
The company said: “The choice here is quite simple. Force patients to keep enduring the burden of multiple daily injections, or give them an alternative.”
(KMcA)
The drug, Exubera, would offer sufferers an alternative to injecting themselves with insulin several times per day.
However, the drug costs around £1,100 per person per year, around £500 more than insulin injections.
Around 800,000 diabetes sufferers in the UK use insulin injections to control their condition.
The draft guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, said that injecting insulin was “not usually a concern” for the majority of people with diabetes and said that it could not fully replace the injected form – patients would still need injections at night to measure glucose levels in the blood – and could not be proven to be more clinically or cost effective.
Charity Diabetes UK said that it was “disappointed” by the decision, describing the treatment as a “medical breakthrough”. The charity said that new treatments “should not be restricted because of costs” and that greater emphasis should be placed on patient choices.
Drug manufacturer Pfizer said that trials had shown that inhaled insulin was as effective as injected insulin.
The company said: “The choice here is quite simple. Force patients to keep enduring the burden of multiple daily injections, or give them an alternative.”
(KMcA)
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A drive by the drug industry to promote new, more expensive type of insulins (known as analogue insulins) for people with type 2 diabetes is estimated to have cost the NHS at least £250m extra over the past five years. Yet for most people with type 2 diabetes, the extra cost does not correspond to the equivalent extra benefit.
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Axing Of Diabetes Product Slammed
A letter from the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, published in today's Daily Telegraph, has deplored the axing by Novo Nordisk of an insulin product, currently used by an estimated 90,000 diabetics in the UK.
Axing Of Diabetes Product Slammed
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