FDA Approves ASMANEX (R) TWISTHALER(R) (Mometasone Furoate Inhalation Powder) for the Once Daily Maintenance Treatment of Asthma in Children...( ASMANEX is the First and Only In...),Health

ASMANEX is the First and Only Inhaled Corticosteroid approved for

Once-Daily dosing in Children as Young as Age 4

KENILWORTH, N.J., Feb. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ASMANEX (R) TWISTHALER (R) 110 mcg (mometasone furoate inhalation powder) for the maintenance treatment of asthma as a preventive therapy in patients 4 to 11 years of age. ASMANEX is an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS). ASMANEX 220 mcg was approved on March 31, 2005 by the FDA for maintenance treatment of asthma as preventive therapy in patients 12 years of age and older.

Asthma is the most common chronic condition among children, and it is the cause of almost three million physician visits and 200,000 hospitalizations among children each year.(1)(2) Taken every day, maintenance inhalers help prevent asthma symptoms.

"As the first inhaled corticosteroid that is approved for once-daily dosing in children as young as age four, the approval of the pediatric indication for ASMANEX provides an important treatment option for children with moderate and mild persistent asthma," said Robert J. Spiegel, M.D., chief medical officer and senior vice president, Schering-Plough Research Institute.

According to updated guidelines from the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program, inhaled corticosteroids are the preferred foundation therapy for initiating long-term control in children with persistent asthma.(3)

Continual use of ASMANEX helps manage asthma symptoms in patients with persistent asthma. Additionally, its automatic dose counter helps patients track remaining doses.

The FDA approval of ASMANEX for pediatri
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