(Bloomberg) – Novartis AG applied for U.S. regulatory approval for two drugs to treat smoker’s cough that analysts estimate could generate an additional $1.4 billion in annual sales for the Swiss drugmaker.
Third-phase clinical tests for QVA149 and NVA237 showed “positive” results for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, or smoker’s cough, Basel-based Novartis said today in a statement. The filing was made in the fourth quarter of last year, the company said.
Drugmakers are introducing new respiratory treatments as existing drugs such as GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s Advair lose intellectual property rights. COPD kills a person every 10 seconds and will become the third-highest cause of death worldwide by 2030, according to the World Health Organization. The disease is characterized by breathlessness, excess saliva, mucus in the airways and a chronic cough.
Novartis’s decision to apply for approval of both products as twice-daily treatments may put them at a disadvantage to once-daily therapies such as GlaxoSmithKline’s Anoro and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH’s Spiriva, analysts from Barclays Plc wrote in a note today.