Novartis QVA149 work ‘welcomed’ by Sosei

The announcement by Novartis that it has concluded its initial formulation work on QVA149 and will begin clinical development in 2007 has been welcomed by biopharmaceutical company Sosei.

The compound is a combination of Novartis’ own beta2 agonist indacaterol with Soesei’s NVA237 muscarinic antagonist licensed to Novartis.

Under the terms of the companies’ agreement, Novartis is responsible for the development and commercialisation of NVA237 as a monotherapy and combination treatment, with Sosei and its development partner Vectura to receive up to $172.5 million (88.5 million pounds) each upon reaching certain milestones.

Sinichi Tamura, president and chief executive of Sosei, said: “I am delighted that Novartis has confirmed the progression of QVA149 into clinical development and that both QVA149 and NVA237 are expected to file in 2010.”

He added that he believed both products would widen the number of options available for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), whose incidence he notes is continuing to increase.

In August, Novartis announced a collaboration agreement for the development of an innovative once-daily combination treatment for COPD and asthma.

The planned therapy will be administered by an inhaler and combine Novartis’ bronchodilator indaceterol (QAB149) with the inhaled corticosteroid mometasone from Schering-Plough.