Hikma warns sales will be lower after delay to asthma drug launch

Drug maker Hikma has cut its full-year revenue forecasts after its plan to launch a cheap copy of a top-selling asthma drug this year hit a major roadblock.
The FTSE 100 company was forced to lower estimates for its generics unit by $130m on Friday - bringing overall revenue forecasts down as much as 9pc - after a US regulator blocked its application to launch a copycat version of GlaxoSmithKline's asthma drug Advair.
Hikma's shares dropped more than 5pc on Friday, while shares in Glaxo - which is likely to see sales of the drug tumble if rivals launch cheaper versions - inched up.....

Read more here: telegraph.co.uk

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Could This Cancer Drug Benefit Patients with Severe Asthma?

An early-phase study suggests that a targeted cancer drug, imatinib (Gleevec, Novartis), may help treat patients with severe asthma.1 Although the small-scale study was not large enough to confirm its results, the researchers found that measures of airway inflammation were reduced in participants taking the drug.
The results, which were published in The New England Journal of Medicine, showed that the chronic myeloid leukemia drug targets specific immune cells that are known to cause lung inflammation. The study was conducted in part at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and led by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.....

Read more here: pharmacytimes.com

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Handbook on asthma a good place to start

The Asthma Association of Barbados recently launched a book designed to aid asthmatics in the better management of their condition. A glance through that handbook will show that the Association tried its best to cover the full gamut of topics that often surface when discussions come up about asthma.
The Asthma Handbook, entitled “Asthma Treatment and Control: Volume 1”, defines what asthma is, its causes, its symptoms, the risk factors for developing the condition, triggers of asthma, treatment of asthma, the correct use of the asthma inhaler, the spacing device and other apparatus. It also contains an Asthma Action Plan and a section on managing asthma in the home, in schools and the work environment.....

Read more here: barbadosadvocate.com