AstraZeneca receives European approval for Moventig

AstraZeneca has announced that the European Commission has approved Moventig, a first-in-class treatment for opioid-induced constipation.

Designed for adult patients who have had an inadequate response to laxatives, the once-daily oral peripherally-acting mu-opioid receptor antagonist is the first product of its kind to be approved in Europe.

Opioids play an important role in chronic pain relief and work by binding to mu-receptors in the central nervous system, but since they also bind to mu-receptors in the gastrointestinal tract, they can have the side effect of causing constipation.

This approval was based on positive safety and efficacy data from the Kodiac clinical programme, which was comprised of four studies.

Briggs Morrison, executive vice-president for global medicines development and chief medical officer of AstraZeneca, said: "We're very pleased to have received marketing authorisation for Moventig, as it allows us to offer a new treatment option for the millions of patients across Europe who suffer from opioid-induced constipation and haven't responded to laxatives."

This comes after the firm received EU approval last month for Duaklir Genuair, a new therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.