Exubera buyout a matter of price: Pfizer

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N) said on Monday it was negotiating to buy its partner Sanofi-Aventis SA (SASY.PA) out of Exubera, the world's first inhaled form of insulin, but a deal depended on agreeing on the right price.

"They want to sell," Hank McKinnell, Pfizer's chairman and CEO, told the Reuters Health Summit in New York.

"It depends on the price. It's clearly a good opportunity and clearly one company is better off controlling it. We'll see how the negotiations go," he added.

Exubera, which has had a troubled path to market, won a green light from a U.S. advisory panel in September, although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently said it had delayed a decision on the drug for three months while it reviews more data.

If approved, Exubera could revolutionize the treatment of diabetes by reducing the need for insulin injections. Analysts have estimated worldwide annual sales may reach $2 billion.

The product, however, is no longer seen as central to France's Sanofi, which is expected to use any cash payment from Pfizer to help develop its portfolio of other experimental products.

Pfizer and Sanofi currently have a global agreement to co-develop, co-promote and co-manufacture Exubera, with U.S. biotech firm Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR.O) providing the delivery device.