Exubera (from Pfizer) is the first inhaled (not injected) insulin to receive approval. It is legal and available in the UK and USA. But that’s only half the battle. Who’s going to pay for it?
Britain has a National Health Service through which all citizens are covered. For a new medical device or treatment to be fully accepted in the UK, it has to be approved by the British National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).
NICE has rejected Exubera. They agree it works, but claim that as it provides the same benefits as injected insulin, at a far higher cost, it is “not cost-effective.”
American insurers are, of course, in no way bound by this decision.