An asthma treatment created by AstraZeneca has been granted six months of an extended patent protection by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the company said in a statement Thursday.
The biopharmaceutical giant, which has its U.S. headquarters just outside of Wilmington, received another six months of protection after Symbicort Inhalation Aerosol was granted pediatric exclusivity.
The FDA’s decision comes after several tests of the medication were conducted in children ages 6 to 12 with asthma.
Symbicort is already approved in the U.S. for treatment in patients 12 and older with asthma or adults with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
Symbicort was first launched in Sweden in 2000. The FDA approved it for use in the U.S. in summer 2006 to treat asthma in ages 12 and up.