Chippenham, UK - 4 September 2014: Vectura Group plc (LSE: VEC; “Vectura” or “the Company”), is pleased to announce that our alliance partner Novartis, has confirmed that Pfizer Limited has signed an exclusive agreement to commercialise Ultibro® Breezhaler® (indacaterol / glycopyrronium bromide) and Seebri® Breezhaler®(glycopyrronium bromide) in the United Kingdom.
Both Novartis and Pfizer have extensive experience in respiratory medicine and are excited to provide two effective medicines for the maintenance bronchodilator treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to the estimated three million people living with the condition in the United Kingdom.
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Enquiries
Vectura Group plc
+44 (0)1249 667700
Chris Blackwell, Chief Executive
Karl Keegan, Chief Corporate Development Officer
FTI Consulting
44 (0)20 3727 1000
Ben Atwell / John Dineen
About Vectura
Vectura is a product development company that focuses on the development of pharmaceutical therapies for the treatment of airways-related diseases (airways diseases). This growing market includes asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is estimated to be worth in excess of $46 billion worldwide1.
Vectura has eight products marketed by partners and a portfolio of drugs in clinical development, a number of which have been licensed to major pharmaceutical companies. Vectura has disclosed development collaborations and licence agreements with several pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including Novartis, Sandoz, Baxter, GlaxoSmithKline, UCB, Ablynx, Grifols and Tianjin KingYork Group Company Limited.
Vectura develops products for airways diseases and owns formulation and inhalation technologies that are available to other pharmaceutical companies on an out-licensing basis where this complements Vectura’s business strategy. For further information, please visit Vectura’s website at www.vectura.com.
About the NVA237/QVA149 License Agreement with Novartis
NVA237 (glycopyrronium bromide - Seebri® Breezhaler®) was licensed to Novartis in April 2005 by Vectura and its co-development partner, Sosei. To date, Vectura has received $65m from Novartis and, under the terms of the license, could receive up to an additional $122.5m for achievement of regulatory and commercialisation targets for both the monotherapy and the combination product. In addition, royalties on product sales will be received in the event of successful product launches.
Since launch in November 2012, Novartis UK continues to provide access to Seebri Breezhaler for UK patients. To date, Ultibro Breezhaler has not been launched in the United Kingdom.
About Novartis in Respiratory
Novartis is committed to addressing the unmet medical needs of COPD and severe asthma patients and improving their quality of life by providing innovative medicines and devices. The Novartis respiratory portfolio includes Ultibro®Breezhaler® (indacaterol/ glycopyrronium bromide), Seebri® Breezhaler® (glycopyrronium bromide) and Onbrez® Breezhaler®/Arcapta™ Neohaler™ (indacaterol), which are all indicated as maintenance treatments for COPD patients. Glycopyrronium bromide was exclusively licensed to Novartis in April 2005 by Vectura and its co-development partner Sosei.
Novartis continues development of respiratory products for delivery via the low resistance Breezhaler® inhalation device, which makes it suitable for patients with different severities of airflow limitation2. The Breezhaler device allows patients to hear, feel and see that they have taken the full dose correctly2.
Ultibro®, Seebri®, Breezhaler® and Onbrez® are registered trademarks of Novartis AG
References
1. Pharmaview Commercial Landscape Series Respiratory Decision Resources 2013
2. Pavkov et al. Characteristics of a capsule based dry powder inhaler for the delivery of indacaterol. CMRO2010;26; 11:2527-2533. doi:10.1185/03007995.2010.518916.
3. Ultibro® Breezhaler® EU Summary of Product Characteristics. [Online] 3 October 2013. Available at: http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/EPAR_-_Product_Information/human/002679/WC500151255.pdf. [Accessed 1 August 2014]
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