Philip Morris goes into drug businessPhilip Morris goes into drug business
12/14/2005
RICHMOND, Va., Dec 14, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) --
The Altria Group Inc.'s Philip Morris USA, the nation's top cigarette maker, is creating technologies for delivering medications to premature babies.
In a project with lung-drug specialist Discovery Laboratories Inc. of Warrington, Pa., the Richmond, Va., manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes has been researching ways to treat a variety of ailments with drugs delivered in aerosol form, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The move is seen as a response to the company's need to diversify, as cigarette sales revenues continue to decline.
The Journal said Philip Morris kept the project secret while it researched how to commercialize its drug-delivery technology -- known as a "capillary aerosol generator" -- that delivers a mist of drugs deep into one's lung.
Clinical trials of the aerosol delivery system are expected to begin next year.
The deal would provide Philip Morris with royalties based on sales, with Discovery producing the drug component and handling regulatory approval, the Journal said.
www.upi.com
Copyright 2005 by United Press International