Issued: Friday 13 July 2012, London UK Relvar™ and Breo™ proposed as brand names for FF/VI in EU and US; new dry powder inhaler proposed to be named Ellipta™

GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) and Theravance, Inc. (NASDAQ: THRX) today announced the submission of regulatory applications in the US and European Union for the once-daily investigational medicine fluticasone furoate “FF”/vilanterol “VI” (FF/VI) for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and a regulatory application for asthma in the European Union. 

European Submission:

A Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) for FF/VI, with the proposed brand name Relvar™, administered by a new dry powder inhaler called Ellipta™, has been submitted to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the following indications: 

Asthma (100/25mcg and 200/25mcg): The regular treatment of asthma in adults and adolescents aged 12 years and older, where use of a combination product (long-acting beta 2 -agonist and inhaled corticosteroid) is appropriate.

COPD (100/25mcg): The symptomatic treatment of patients with COPD with a FEV1 <70% predicted normal (post-bronchodilator) in patients with an exacerbation history.

US Submission:

A New Drug Application (NDA) for FF/VI, with the proposed brand name Breo™, administered by the Ellipta™ inhaler, has been submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for the following indication:    

COPD (100/25mcg):   The long-term once-daily maintenance treatment of airflow obstruction in patients with COPD, including chronic bronchitis and/or emphysema and to reduce exacerbations of COPD in patients with a history of exacerbations. 

For asthma, GSK and Theravance are reviewing the strategy for a future US filing. 

FF/VI is one of several late-stage assets in the GSK respiratory development portfolio, which also includes the investigational LAMA/LABA combination umeclidinium bromide/vilanterol (UMEC/VI),VI monotherapy and MABA (GSK961081 ), developed in collaboration with Theravance, as well as GSK’s investigational medicines FF monotherapy, UMEC monotherapy and anti-IL5 MAb (mepolizumab).

*Relvar™ or Breo™ (FF/VI and previously referred to as Relovair™ ) is an investigational medicine and is not currently approved anywhere in the world.  Relovair™, Relvar™, Breo™ and Ellipta™ are trademarks of the GlaxoSmithKline group of companies. The use of these brand names is not approved by regulatory authorities around the world. 

GlaxoSmithKline – one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For further information please visit www.gsk.com . 

Theravance – is a biopharmaceutical company with a pipeline of internally discovered product candidates and strategic collaborations with pharmaceutical companies. Theravance is focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecule medicines across a number of therapeutic areas including respiratory disease, bacterial infections, and central nervous system (CNS)/pain. Theravance's key programs include: Relvar™/Breo™, LAMA/LABA (UMEC/VI) and MABA (Bifunctional Muscarinic Antagonist-Beta 2 Agonist), each partnered with GlaxoSmithKline plc, and its oral Peripheral Mu Opioid Receptor Antagonist (PμMA) program. By leveraging its proprietary insight of multivalency to drug discovery, Theravance is pursuing a best-in-class strategy designed to discover superior medicines in areas of significant unmet medical need. For more information, please visit Theravance’s web site at www.theravance.com . 

THERAVANCE®, the Theravance logo, and MEDICINES THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE® are registered trademarks of Theravance, Inc.