FDA approves inhalable diabetes medication

Three years after the Food and Drug Administration told MannKind Corp. to run additional tests on Afrezza, the inhalable diabetes medication has finally been approved. Afrezza is an insulin powder that users inhale from a single-use cartridge before or within 20 minutes of eating a meal, The Associated Press reports.

It is meant for those suffering from type 2 diabetes, the most common type of the disease, which stops the body from properly using insulin. As obesity rates soar worldwide, so too have the rates of those suffering from the chronic condition. Several other inhalable insulin medications have tanked either on the market or in development, including one from Pfizer Inc. in 2007 and another by Eli Lilly & Co. a year later. The FDA has noted that Afrezza should not be used as a long-term alternative to longer-acting insulin injections.

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