Cipla Ltd, the Rs 616-crore ($143 million) Mumbai-based pharmaceutical company, has developed a non-chlorofluorocarbon, or non-CFC, metered-dose salbutamol inhaler for the first time in India. The product is slated for launch in August 1999 under the brand name Asthalin HFA. The price will be roughly Rs 90 per inhaler.

CFC gases are used in metered-dose inhalers or MDIs as a vehicle for improving the drug delivery system. These gases help deliver the drug as fine micro-particles to the lungs, thereby enhancing the drug''s bio-availability. Cipla''s new product will employ CFC substitute haloalkem (HFA-134a).

Chlorofluorocarbons, along with carbon tetrachloride and halons, have been identified as ozone depleting substances. These substances have been banned in developed countries since 1 January 1996 following the 1987 Montreal Treaty declarations. The treaty, signed by 150 nations, has set 2010 as the deadline for developing countries to follow suit.

Cipla''s low-cost product is likely to intensify competition in the international aerosol markets as the company is planning to price its product at a third of the price charged by others. The international prices for non-CFC MDIs are ruling around Rs 270 per inhaler.

The company is in the process of registering this product in several European countries and South Africa. According to Amar Lulla, director, Cipla, the company plans to capture 3-6 per cent of the international aerosol market in the first year. The international aerosol market is valued at one billion pounds or 230 million units. Over 70 million patients worldwide are hooked to MDIs, accounting for 77 per cent of the global inhalation therapy.

Non-CFC inhalers are outside the purview of patents, which augurs well for Cipla to make an early dent in international markets. In 1997, the UK patents court quashed the patent application of 3M Pharmaceuticals on the use of CFC substitute in MDIs after the application was challenged by Norton Healthcare.

The leading companies in the international aerosol market are Glaxo-Wellcome, Rhone Poulenc, Norton Healthcare, 3M Pharmaceuticals and Schering Plough.