Japanese committee recommends approval of NVA237

An advisory committee within Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare recommended approval of a marketing application from Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS; SIX:NOVN) for NVA237 to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Novartis, which submitted the application last November, has global rights to NVA237 from Sosei Group Corp. (Tokyo:4565) and Vectura Group plc (LSE:VEC) under a 2005 deal. Sosei was off Y3,600 to Y280,800 on Thursday. Vectura was off 0.50p to 83.50p. ...