ML Receives Asthma Drug Licence

Pharmaceuticals company ML Laboratories has received a licence from the UK Medicines Control Agency for the administration of its asthma drug, salbutamol, in a dry powder inhaler.

With worldwide sales of respiratory products estimated to be around $15 billion per year, the potential market for DPIs is enormous. Salbutamol alone, which is off-patent, has sales of $1.5 billion. ML has given European rights to distribute both salbutamol and beclomethosone (which is currently in clinical trials) to the pharmaceuticals company Medeva. ML expects to receive royalties on European sales of more than L70 million ($1.08 billion) over the next decade.

Meanwhile, ML has started Phase II clinical trials with its prostate cancer vaccine, using technology leased from Proteus International.