U.K. drug company Vectura Group PLC (VEC.LN) Friday said it has signed a licensing deal with Novartis AG (NOVN.VX) for its generic asthma medicine VR315, covering markets outside Europe and North America.

The deal follows hot on the heals of a U.S. licensing agreement for the drug with an unnamed company earlier this week, and means Vectura has now licensed the drug worldwide. Novartis already has European rights for VR315, which industry observers say is a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline PLC's (GSK.LN) blockbuster drug Advair. The Swiss pharmaceutical giant did the deals for both territories through its generics unit Sandoz.

Under the new agreement, Vectura will receive up to EUR8 million in milestone payments before the drug is launched, EUR2.5 million of which is expected before the end of September.

Glaxo's Advair, also known as Seretide and Viani, generated worldwide sales of GBP5.14 billion last year.

source:Vectura Group PLC