The Wall Street Journal-20080115-Novo Nordisk- AERx Inhaler Scrapped- Product-s Workers Fired

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Novo Nordisk: AERx Inhaler Scrapped; Product's Workers Fired

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Reuters

Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk said it was halting development of its AERx inhaled insulin product and would lay off approximately 300 employees working on the product. The company said the product, meant to deliver inhaled droplets of liquid insulin, did not have adequate commercial potential given the recent failure of Pfizer Inc.'s inhaled insulin drug, Exubera. Pfizer, citing poor sales, last year abandoned Exubera, which delivered inhaled insulin powder through a bulky device. "In simply looking at the market and the convenience of our device, we decided it is not really there," a Novo Nordisk spokesman said.