Technical Analysis, page-10

Invion's hypothesis is that the drug inhibits a cellular pathway that causes the cells lining the lung, the epithelium, to change from normal cells to mucus-producing cells. This is the underlying pathology in diseases such as asthma and cystic fibrosis, Mr Collier said.

"The smoking cessation trial also forms the basis of supporting all of our programs around nadalol," he said.

Even if the drug doesn't help smokers quit, Invion will still investigate its use in inhibiting the over-active mucus production in the lungs of respiratory disease sufferers.

Intriguingly, nadalol is not a new drug. It is a common beta-blocker already used by sufferers of migraines, as well as the heart failure complication angina.

Invion has patented the use of oral nadalol tablets in smoking cessation, as well as an inhaled version for use in respiratory diseases.

Mr Collier said repurposing a drug removed some of the risk for a small biotechnology company, because it can rely on previously established toxicology and chemical data. "The beauty of repurposing is we have a whole history of this drug in over 10 million people," he said.

The company is pursuing lucrative business opportunities.

"Smoking cessation is a multibillion-dollar market by itself," Mr Collier said. "For the inhaled program, that is north of $30 billion in terms of the market.

"Obviously there's a lot of interest in the area with pharmaceutical companies because they're looking for new therapies [for diseases such as asthma and cystic fibrosis] because the existing therapies aren't treating the underlying pathology."