Theravance, Inc. announced that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has enrolled the first patient in a phase 2b clinical programme with the investigational long-acting beta2 agonist (LABA) compound, 159797 ('797) from the Beyond Advair collaboration, in patients with mild to moderate asthma. In the collaboration with GSK, the plan is to develop a once-a-day inhaled combination medicine comprised of a LABA and a corticosteroid. This step with '797 is part of the next phase in the collaboration, which will determine the LABA to take into the combination clinical trials programme in patients.

"We are excited that a compound has moved into the phase 2b programme, with two additional compounds, 642444 and 159802, continuing to progress in clinical development," said Michael Kitt, MD, senior vice president, Development at Theravance. "The goal is to generate repeat-dose data in a larger number of patients with all three compounds in order to make decisions about further development. The joint progression of these compounds supports the stated strategy of managing a pool of compounds with the goal of getting one to market in this important therapeutic area."

Theravance is a biopharmaceutical company with a pipeline of internally discovered product candidates. 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 gastrointestinal motility dysfunction.