- The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare approves GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) and Theravance's (THRX) Anoro Ellipta (umeclidinium/vilanterol) for the relief of various symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases in patients who require the concurrent use of a long-acting inhaled muscarinic antagonist and a long-acting inhaled beta2 agonist.
- Anoro is a once-daily treatment comprised of two broncodilators. Umeclidinium is the muscarinic antagonist and vilanterol is the beta2 agonist.
- Under the terms of the companies' 2002 collaboration agreement, Theravance is obligated to pay Glaxo a milestone payment of $10M based on Japanese regulatory approval.