Forest Files Two New Applications For Aerobid

Forest Laboratories has filed two new marketing applications in the USAfor its flunisolide-based asthma product Aerobid. One application is for once-daily use of the product, and the other is for a product combining Aerobid with Forest's Aerochamber device, an aerosol holding chamber designed to maximize deposition of the steroid into the lung and minimize mouth and throat deposition.

Sales of Aerobid have been weakening in recent months due to competition in the inhaled asthma drug market. Last year, Forest stopped shipping Aerobid after competition from Glaxo Wellcome's Flovent (fluticasone) meant that the product was sitting on wholesalers' shelves. The temporary suspension reduced company sales drastically and created a loss for the first time in more than a decade (Marketletter June 9, 1997).