Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) are the main focus of the Respiratory Disease Area (DA) whose vision is to be the industry-leader in drug discovery and research for respiratory diseases. 

Asthma
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, affecting as many as 300 million people worldwide. Available therapies for the management of asthma are limited by issues of side effects, compliance and efficacy. Therefore, there is a need for easier to use and safer therapies, which match the effectiveness of existing treatments. There is also a need for novel, effective treatments of steroid/dependent/resistant asthmatics, a patient population that accounts for more than 60% of the asthma health costs, although relatively small in numbers. Current therapies offer symptom control only; a significant area of unmet medical need is in disease modifying and curative treatments.
 

At the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR), we focus our efforts on oral anti-inflammatory therapies; treatment of severe asthma; disease modifying, potentially curative treatments.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) / Cystic fibrosis
COPD is characterized by a slow progressive development of a poorly reversible airflow limitation and by an abnormal inflammatory response of the lungs to noxious gases and particles. It is the sixth most common cause of death worldwide. The single most important cause of COPD is cigarette smoking. Presently, no effective treatments are available either to prevent the progression of airflow obstruction or to treat the debilitating or distressing symptoms.
 

Our specific focus at NIBR is to deliver new and effective symptomatic treatments for cough, excess mucus secretion, reduced exercise tolerance and anti-inflammatory therapies.
 

Our long-term goal is to explore airway epithelial cell biology to develop effective muco-modulatory therapeutics for the treatment of COPD and Cystic fibrosis.

Respiratory-related drug discovery and clinical development are conducted in Horsham, UK, under the leadership of John Westwick.

Estacion M, Li S, Sinkins WG, Gosling M, Bahra P, Poll C, Westwick J, Schilling WP. “Activation of human TRPC6 channels by receptor stimulation”. Journal of Biological Chemistry 279(21): 22047 – 22056 (2004).

Cronshaw DG, Owen C, Brown Z, Ward SG. “Activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinases by the CCR4 ligand macrophage-derived chemokine is a dispensable signal for T lymphocyte chemotaxis”. J Immunol 172:7761-7770 (2004).

Ward S, Finan P. “Isoform-specific phosphoinositide-3-kinase inhibitors as therapeutic agents”. Current Opinion in Pharmacology 3: 426 – 434 (2003).

Ferretti S, Bonneau O, Dubois G, Jones CE, Trifilieff A. “IL-17, produced by lymphocytes and neutrophils, is necessary for lipopolysaccharide-induced airway neutrophilia: IL-15 as a possible trigger”. Journal of Immunology 170: 2106-2112 (2003).

Atherton H, Jones G, Danahay H. “IL-13 induced changes in the goblet cell density of human bronchial epithelial cell cultures: MAP-kinase and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase regulation”. Am. J. Physiol. 285(3): L730 - L739 (2003).

Jones CE, Holden S, Tenaillon L, Bhatia U, Seuwen K, Tranter P, Turner J, Kettle R, Bouhelal R, Charlton S, Nirmala NR, Finan P. “Expression and Characterisation of a 5-oxo-6E,8Z,11Z,14Z-eicosatetraeonic acid receptor highly expressed on human eosinophils and neutrophils”. Molecular Pharmacology 63: 471 – 477 (2003).

Xolair® (omalizumab)
Xolair is the first humanized therapeutic antibody for the treatment of asthma; it was designed to target the antibody IgE (immunoglobulin E), a key underlying cause of the symptoms of allergic asthma. Xolair is the first therapy targeting the cause of allergic reactions and therefore considered a biotech breakthrough.
 

	Visit the Xolair website (US residents only)

Foradil® (formoterol fumarate inhalation powder)
Foradil is a bronchodilator used in the treatment or prevention of bronchial asthma or other chronic pulmonary disorders.

QAB149 is an inhaled beta 2 adrenoceptor agonist that has been developed for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The compound has been pre-clinically characterized as a fast-acting, full agonist with a longer duration and higher safety margin over marketed beta 2 agonists. This class of compounds, by acting on the beta 2 adrenoceptor, induces an increase in cyclic AMP, which in turn induces relaxation of the bronchial smooth muscle and provide symptomatic relief to the patient. QAB149 is currently in Phase II clinical trials and has been shown to have at least 24 hours duration of action in man.