BRIEF—$11 million milestone for Vectura

Chippenham, UK-based Vectura Group has secured an $11 million milestone payment, after its partner Hikma Pharmaceuticals launched a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline’s Advair Diskus (fluticasone propionate/salmeterol) in the USA.

Vectura will also earn a mid-teen royalty on net sales of the product, the first US Food and Drug Administration-approved dry powder inhaler from the company.

It will join a growing franchise of approved inhalation devices the firm is offering in Europe and the rest of the world.

Chief executive Will Downie said: “Approval of this product paves the way for our substitutable drug-device combination program, also partnered with Hikma, for generic versions of the GSK Ellipta portfolio, in the coming years.”