French company Valois has developed a new dose counter that should
improve the safety of inhalers used to delivery drugs to asthmatics
and people with chronic bronchitis.
Pfizer and Rigel Pharmaceuticals have entered into a collaboration
to develop a novel class of compounds for the treatment of allergic
asthma and other respiratory diseases that continue to see cases
rising in Europe and the US.
Drug giants GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Galapagos have entered into a
target identification collaboration identifying viable drug targets
in the area of respiratory and inflammatory diseases.
New treatment guidelines have concluded that there are no
significant differences between the aerosol therapy devices used
for respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD), as long as they are...
RNA interference (RNAi) technology took a major leap forward after
Sirna Therapeutics initiated the first program that uses RNAi to
treat asthma, a condition that costs an estimated $13 billion (€9.8
billion) in healthcare costs in...
Italy's Chiesi Farmaceutici has signed a deal with Ontario,
Canada-headquartered Trudell Medical International for the latter's
MDI actuation indicator, designed to make it easuer for asthmatics
to see when their inhaler...
Inhaled drug delivery company Inyx has reported positive results
from a two-year stability study of a non-ozone-depleting,
hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) propelled salbutamol metered dose inhaler
(MDI) for treating asthma and other respiratory...
The march towards multidrug therapy of asthma has caused Italy's
Zambon to pull out of a research project aimed at developing new
inhaler formulations of the steroid budesonide and bronchodilator
formoterol.
Drug giant Pfizer has completed its purchase of UK-based drug
delivery company Meridica in a move that it says will bolster its
activities in allergy and respiratory medicine.
Asthma research company Synairgen, has announced plans to seek a
listing on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) to raise
funds for the research and development of chronic bronchitis (COPD)
and asthma.
Scientists at Yale University in the US have discovered the
vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays an important role
in the development of the disease and raises the possibility of new
asthma drugs that block VEGF receptors...
Germany's chemical and pharmaceuticals firm Altana is considering
an acquisition valued at up to €500 million to strengthen its
specialty chemicals division, according to chief executive Nikolaus
Schweickart.
Drug giant Pfizer is planning to buy UK-based drug delivery company
Meridica in a move that it says will bolster its activities in
allergy and respiratory medicine.
Inyx has acquired a Swiss-developed drug delivery technology that
should make it possible to develop inhaled drug therapies with two
or more active compounds, even if they are incompatible or
unstable.
UK drug delivery company SkyePharma has reported net losses down in
the first half of the year, but warned revenues and cash flow will
come under pressure as it moves away from its current
milestone-based revenue model.
Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim has revealed plans to buy a
microtechnology specialist - STEAG microParts - to get full control
of a novel inhaler for drug delivery into the lungs.
US drug delivery company MAP Pharmaceuticals has raised $30 million
in a second-round stock financing with several top-tier
biotechnology investors and says it will use the proceeds to
progress its inhaled steroid and Tempo Inhaler...
SkyePharma has completed Phase III testing of a new version of
AstraZeneca's asthma drug Pulmicort (budesonide) that does not use
ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) propellants.
A compound targetting respiratory syncytial virus - a major threat
to immunocompromised patients - has completed Phase I trials,
raising hopes of the first effective treatment for the virus,
writes Wai Lang Chu.
ML Laboratories of the UK has entered into an agreement to supply
an unnamed pharmaceutical company with its C200 metered dose
inhaler, designed to deliver two drugs at the same time, for use in
a new asthma product.
A biomechanical pathway which is key to the specific allergic
response suffered by those with asthma has been shown to induce a
specific enzyme which if neutralised, could eliminate the
inflammation and hyperresposiveness of the airway,...
Acusphere has developed microcapsule a technology that promises to
improve the delivery of a range of drugs, including those that are
poorly-soluble in water. The technology is being used to develop a
sustained-release version of...
Profile Therapeutics of the UK has been granted approval from the
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Prodose, its nebuliser
system that can improve the delivery of inhaled drugs.
Germany's Altana has filed for European marketing approval of the
first drug in new class - the phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitors - for
asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Asthma is now one of the world's most common long-term conditions,
according to figures released today during the World Asthma Meeting
in Bangkok, Thailand, and the UK has the highest rate in the world.
AstraZeneca has launched new production lines at its production
facility in Dunkerque in northern France, following a 24 per cent
growth in its respiratory sales in 2003. The new lines will produce
aerosol-delivered medicines for...
A study which has found significant differences between the adult
and childhood forms of asthma suggests that pharmaceutical
companies may have to rethink their approach to developing new
drugs for the disease.
The executive chairman of UK-based drug delivery specialist
SkyePharma, Ian Gowrie-Smith, will step down at the firm's next
annual general meeting in 2004 and seek reappointment as
non-executive chairman.
Profile Therapeutics of the UK, a specialist in inhaled therapies,
said it has agreed to supply France's Schering SA with its Prodose
intelligent inhalers to support Schering's product Ventavis
(iloprost), a recently-approved...
Aerosol delivery specialist Inyx has entered into an agreement with
a European partner that will see the company sign a partner for its
dry powder inhaler (DPI) technologies for the first time.
A new drug for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD), developed by Swiss drugmaker Novartis, will make use of two
technologies developed by UK drug delivery firm SkyePharma.
Bespak of the UK, a specialist in inhalation devices for drug
delivery, has opened a new £10 million (€15m) facility at its
King's Lynn site for the manufacture of pMDIs.
Profile Therapeutics has reported strong growth in sales and a
reduced operating loss for the year-ended June 30, and expects this
trend to continue as its R&D efforts in improved nebuliser
technologies come to fruition.
