Pharmacy News Article

Pharmaceutical company SkyePharma plc (LSE:SKP) said on Friday that it has reached agreement with Novartis Pharma AG and with a subcontractor on immediate termination of the contracts relating to formoterol Certihaler.

These agreements follow the decision, announced in December 2008, not to proceed with US commercialisation of formoterol Certihaler.

SkyePharma retains exclusive rights for the SkyeHaler device, used in the formoterol Certihaler, which was approved in the United States in December 2006 for use as a multi-dose dry powder inhaler.

As a result of the termination agreements SkyePharma will record an exceptional gain in its 2009 accounts of approximately GBP5m, leading to a net cash benefit in the second half of 2009 of a similar amount. The cessation of production resulted in a GBP5.9m exceptional charge in the group's 2008 accounts mainly relating to asset write-downs.

The Joint Advisory Committees of the US Food and Drug Administration recommended that the benefits of long-acting beta2-agonists administered alone did not overcome the risks in current asthma indications.

SkyePharma said that it is seeking other potential applications for the SkyeHaler dry powder inhaler.

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