'Smoker's lung' drug wins firms multi-million pound deal

An inhaler treatment for “smoker’s lung” was today at the centre of one of the biggest-ever deals in the UK biotech sector.

British firms Vectura and Arakis have agreed to let Swiss drug maker Novartis develop and commercialise its AD237 treatment in a deal that could be worth $375m (£198.2m / €291.6m)).