The smart nebuliser FOX wins Red Dot Design Award

Vectura Group plc

The smart nebuliser FOX wins Red Dot Design Award

Chippenham, UK - 1 April 2014: Vectura Group plc (LSE: VEC; "Vectura" or the "Company") announces that the smart nebuliser device FOX has won the 2014 Red Dot Award for product design.

The award winning FOX inhaler is a smart and efficient handheld nebuliser for treatment of respiratory diseases. Its breathing control enables highly accurate drug delivery to the small airways.

The FOX inhalation system is a hand-held, self-contained, battery-powered, mesh nebuliser device with high performance using Activaero's* own vibrating mesh aerosol generator. The mesh-based aerosolisation engine used in FOX is proprietary to Activaero*, the rights having been in-licensed to Activaero* on an exclusive basis from a third party. The FOX inhalation system also makes use of a flow sensing/controlling valve system and is both re-chargeable and Bluetooth®-enabled. The latter feature allows for remote firmware updates without cable connection or for the system to upload patient use data for review by a healthcare professional.

The clear and user centric design of FOX make inhalation treatments potentially shorter in duration and more convenient.

Bernhard Müllinger, Chief Technical Officer at Vectura GmbH states "During the design process of FOX we undertook extensive market research to understand a device that patients use intuitively in the right way. Since most dose delivery errors associated with respiratory therapies are caused by inappropriate breathing patterns, we developed a LED lighting to prompt users to breathe correctly during dose administration. The device also features key-lock indicators for intuitive assembly of the components." FOX is fully battery powered and can be recharged with standard phone chargers with micro-USB connectors. Patients who use the FOX device can use the device at home, during work or while traveling.

Red Dot CEO and founder Dr. Peter Zec, notes, "Our experts assessed the quality of the entries with the utmost care and attention…But only the best products receive an award from the jury. This is especially reflected in the percentage of successful entries in the Red Dot Award, which is much smaller in contrast to other international design competitions. Therefore, the winners can be proud of their achievements - with their entries, they stood out from the rest and were able to pass the test in front of the critical eyes of the experts."

Design winners are celebrated during a presentation at the acclaimed Red Dot Gala on 7 July 2014. The award-winning products will be displayed in a special exhibition at the Red Dot Design Museum in Essen, Germany from 8 July to 3 August 2014.

* Vectura GmbH (formerly Activaero GmbH) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vectura Group plc

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Enquiries

About Vectura

Vectura is a product development company that focuses on the development of pharmaceutical therapies for the treatment of airways-related diseases. This growing market includes asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is estimated to be worth in excess of $46 billion worldwide.1

Vectura has eight products marketed by its partners and a portfolio of drugs in clinical development, a number of which have been licensed to major pharmaceutical companies. Vectura has development collaborations and licence agreements with several pharmaceutical companies, including Novartis, Sandoz (the generics arm of Novartis), Baxter, GlaxoSmithKline, UCB and Tianjin KingYork Group Company Limited.

Vectura seeks to develop certain programmes itself where this will optimise value. Vectura's formulation and inhalation technologies are available to other pharmaceutical companies on an out-licensing basis where this complements Vectura's business strategy. For further information, please visit Vectura's website at www.vectura.com.

About FAVORITE

FAVORITE is Vectura's proprietary, clinically and commercially proven inhalation approach to effectively treat severe respiratory and pulmonary diseases. FAVORITE actively regulates inspiration flow and inhalation volume. By guiding, controlling and supporting the patient's breathing, optimal inhalation patterns are created. Using FAVORITE, inhaled drugs can be selectively targeted to predefined lung regions hence unlocking completely new opportunities for novel aerosol therapies.

About The Red Dot Design Award

With the Red Dot Design Award, the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen created an internationally renowned product competition. Its prize, the Red Dot, has established itself worldwide as one of the most sought-after quality marks for excellent design. The Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen displays the award-winning products in the Red Dot Design Museum Essen for at least one year.

In order to appraise the diversity in the field of design in a professional manner, the Red Dot Design Award breaks down into the three disciplines Red Dot Award: Product Design, Red Dot Award: Communication Design and Red Dot Award: Design Concept. Further information at: http://www.red-dot.de/press

References

1 Pharmaview Commercial Landscape Series Respiratory Decision Resources 2014