ABOUT OCKHAM BIOTECH LIMITED

Ockham Biotech Ltd. is a reseach company which has secured the rights to the development of inhaled heparin for the treatment of obstructive airway diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The company filed three patents in 2002 based on the mucolytic properties of inhaled heparin that were discovered by Professor Janis Shute. The mucolytic properties of heparin provide a means to improve airway mucus clearance and a 'ballistic effect' to improve the delivery of other inhaled drugs to mucus-congested airways. Heparin has multiple pharmacological properties and, combined with the well-described anti-inflammatory properties of heparin, the use of inhaled heparin suggests an effective way to treat mucus hypersecretory diseases with airway mucus congestion.