Australian regulators OK new asthma test

Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved Sydney-based Pharmaxis' Aridol, which is designed to identify asthma sufferers and evaluate the severity of the disease. This is Pharmaxis' first approval. The biotech says Aridol offers a simple, quick way to test for asthma. The test requires the patient to inhale increasing doses of Aridol, which causes the airways to narrow and contract. The changes in the airways are detected by measuring the amount of air a person can exhale. The smaller the dose required to cause contraction, the more severe the patient's asthma. People without airway inflammation do not respond to an Aridol challenge test.

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