Sidebar : Asthma Products - Delivering the Dosage
Asthma Products - More Information
For 25 years, a handful of drug firms, like Rhône-Poulenc Rorer and Schering Plough, have dominated the asthma market. But in the past decade, a growing number of biotech and drug companies have entered the fray. Last fall, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first entirely new asthma drug since the 1970s. Called Accolate (generic: zafirlukast), the drug blocks leukotrienes, chemicals in the lungs that contribute to asthma attacks. Accolate is produced by Wilmington, Del.-based Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, a unit of Britain's Zeneca Group PLC.
MANY OPPORTUNITIES: Frederick Brown notes that Zeneca is looking for chemists and biologists as it steps up asthma drug research efforts. Other companies are following closely on Zeneca's heels. Biochemical pathways in the lungs are home to many chemicals linked to asthma, including cytokines and the protease enzyme tryptase. ...
