FDA approves Nycomed's Alvesco

WASHINGTON The Food and Drug Administration has approved Nycomed’s new drug Alvesco, which is an inhalation aerosol used for the maintenance of asthma and as a prophylactic therapy in adult and adolescent patients aged 12 years and older.

"The approval of Alvesco provides a new and effective treatment option to help patients control their asthma and improve their quality of life, and will be an important treatment option for physicians," said Myron Zitt, chief of allergy and immunology at the Queens Long Island Medical Group in Babylon, N.Y., and clinical associate professor of medicine at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, School of Medicine.

The drug has been given patent protection until 2017 by the FDA. Nycomed is still looking for marketing and commercializing partnerships for the drug in the U.S.