GlaxoSmithKline and Theravance receive EU COPD approval for Anoro

GlaxoSmithKline and Theravance have announced that Anoro, their new combination therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), has been approved in Europe.

The European Commission has granted marketing authorisation for Anoro as a once-daily maintenance bronchodilator treatment to relieve symptoms in adult patients with COPD, based on positive data from eight phase III trials.

Anoro is a once-daily combination treatment comprising two bronchodilators – umeclidinium and vilanterol – in a single inhaler, the Ellipta. The product will be rolled out in the EU during the second and third quarters of 2014.

Theravance will pay a milestone fee of $15 million (8.88 million pounds) to GlaxoSmithKline following the achievement of this milestone, with a further $15 million to follow the drug's commercial launch.

Rick Winningham, chief executive officer of Theravance, said: "We believe this will be an important treatment option for appropriate patients with COPD and is a further positive outcome from the collaboration between Theravance and GlaxoSmithKline."

This comes after the drug was approved in the US and Canada under the name Anoro Ellipta last year.