PPL Therapeutics upbeat about market exclusivity for lung disease treatment
PPL Therapeutics (uk:pht), the U.K. biotech firm responsible for cloning Dolly the sheep, said on Tuesday it received a positive vote regarding the approval of orphan drug status in Europe for its AAT deficiency treatment. The Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products issued a positive opinion for the treatment following the successful completion of Phase I trials, the first step towards gaining orphan drug status. This would give PPL and its development and marketing partner Bayer (de:575200)(us:bayzy) ten years market exclusivity in the EU once the product is launched on the market. Orphan drug status is intended to provide an incentive for biotech and pharmaceutical companies to invest in developing drugs for diseases affecting only a small number of people. AAT deficiency is a potentially lethal hereditary lung disease which affects around 200,000 people worldwide. PPL shares opened up 2.1 percent at 124 pence.
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