Verona Pharma seeks drug treatment for coughing

Verona Pharma, the AIM-quoted drug discovery company that recently announced a key advance in studies on its potentially groundbreaking antiasthma treatment, is to expand its drug development portfolio with the launch of another development programme for a drug to deal with coughing.

Coughs are one of the most common medical complaints, yet there remains no truly effective treatment for what can be a very debilitating condition, says the company.

Verona Pharma is focused on discovering and developing drug treatments for respiratory diseases, which globally are costing an estimated US$20 bn a year to treat.

The company has acquired significant know-how from a leading North American biotechnology company in return for a low, single digit royalty on all future milestone payments resulting from any licensing agreements.

The company recently announced it had commenced the next stage in an experimental inhalation toxicology study to demonstrate the safety of its novel anti-asthma and hay fever drug treatment, before moving on to proof of concept clinical trials in the first half of next year.