Novo Nordisk discontinued its experimental AERx inhaler and took a charge of $260 million in 2007, saying the product offered little clinical benefit. “Pfizer’s decision on Exubera prompted this,” Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, Novo’s chief scientific officer, in said in a published report. “We have realized that the trend is for physicians to start treatment with something simple rather than a device that has to be loaded with insulin for each mealtime use.” A Novo spokeswoman said that a “significant number’” of 360 jobs at the company’s Hayward, California site will be “affected.”
Three Rivers Pharmaceutical has finalized acquisition of the hepatitis C drug Infergen from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International. Valeant is receiving $91 million from Three Rivers for the procurement.