Mylan and Theravance’s COPD treatment gets FDA approval

Theravance Biopharma and partner Mylan won US regulatory approval for their treatment for a chronic lung condition that causes breathing-related problems.

The treatment, Yupelri, is a once-daily inhalable solution to be used by patients of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a lung disease characterised by wheezing or chronic cough.

Yupelri belongs to a class of drugs called long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMA), with the existing treatment options primarily being hand-held devices such as Boehringer Ingelheim’s Spiriva.

The treatment is expected to be made available in the US before the end of the year, Theravance and Mylan said in a statement.

About 9-10 per cent of COPD patients in the US prefer a nebulised product for maintenance therapy, Raymond James analyst Elliot Wilbur said in a note prior to the approval.