Novartis Inks Lung-Disease Treatment Deal
Novartis has signed a global development and commercialization deal with two small British firms for a compound to treat lung disease in one of the largest such transactions in Europe to date.
Under the terms of the deal, which is worth up to $375 million if all of the required milestones are met, Novartis will pay the firms Vectura Group and Arakis an initial payment of $15 million each.
The agent, AD 237, is an inhaled, long-acting, antimuscarinic agent for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to Novartis. The Swiss company will be responsible for further development of AD 237 both as a monotherapy and in combination with QAB149, its once-daily, long-acting beta2 agonist currently in Phase II clinical development.
AD 237 is in Phase II trials for the treatment of COPD, and studies have thus far demonstrated it is well-tolerated and effective more than 24 hours after a single dose, according to Novartis. The compound has been developed using Vectura's proprietary PowderHale inhalation technology for delivering the product to the lung and optimizing fine particle fraction delivery through a commercially available dry-powder inhaler device.
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21Oct