Court Victory for Pfizer

Pfizer

(PFE) - Get Report

said a federal judge has denied a bid by Denmark's

Novo Nordisk

(NVO) - Get Report

to halt sales of the inhaled insulin Exubera.

Novo Nordisk, which is working on its own inhaled insulin,

sued Pfizer in August for patent infringement. On Thursday, a judge in New York rejected Novo Nordisk's request for a preliminary injunction until the patent suit is resolved. A Pfizer spokesman said a trial date hasn't been set.

Pfizer developed Exubera with

Nektar Therapeutics

(NKTR) - Get Report

.

Approved by the FDA in January, Exubera, a dry powder form of insulin, has been

reaching markets slowly since July.

Pfizer says a full-scale launch of the drug to primary care physicians will begin in January.

Novo Nordisk is working on AERx, an inhaled form of liquid insulin, using technology developed by

Aradigm

(ARDM)

. Analysts say it will still take about four years for this product to be available.