Altana gets expanded Alvesco use in EU, seeks partner

Altana Pharma has obtained European approval for a new indication for asthma drug Alvesco, as its parent company has begun to look for a suitor to merge with the firm.

The company announced that the inhaler had been approved for use to treat adolescent patients with mild to severe persistent asthma. It is already available in 12 countries and has been approved for use in 35.

“We’re delighted that we can now make Alvesco available as an innovative therapy option even to adolescent asthma patients,” said CEO and president Dr Hans-Joachim Lohrisch.

The news comes as German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung reported that parent company Altana AG was looking for a partner for its pharmaceutical business.

Nikolas Schweickart, chief executive, said in an interview that the company intended to find a suitor for the firm which has a range of products available in international markets and is conducting research into new medicines.

He commented that Altana was not interested in a company whose business focus is on patent-free medicine, technologies or generics and that a financial investor would be an inappropriate choice.

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