Last checked at 
* Approvals for inhaled drugs from GSK, Novartis, SkyePharma
* SkyePharma shares up more than 15 percent (Adds detail on Novartis drug, SkyePharma share price jump)
LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Japan has approved three newlung drugs from Western companies, underscoring how the world'ssecond-biggest medicines market is opening up as an importantgrowth driver for international pharmaceuticals groups.
GlaxoSmithKline and Theravance said onFriday that their inhaled lung drug Relvar Ellipta had beenapproved by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare,a day after it won a positive recommendation in Europe.
Tokyo also approved Skyepharma's Flutiformtreatment, which will be sold by Kyorin Pharmaceutical, and Novartis's Ultibro Breezhalerinhalation capsules. Vectura said the Ultibro approvaltriggered a payment to it of $2.5 million.
The clutch of approvals was particularly good news forBritain's SkyePharma, which will receive a milestone payment of"several million U.S. dollars" from Kyorin and is also entitledto royalties of up to 6 million pounds ($9.6 million) a yearfollowing the green light for Relvar.
Its shares were up 15.5 percent at 98 pence by 1019 GMT.
Under the terms of a 2002 agreement, Theravance is alsoobliged to make a milestone payment of $10 million to GSKfollowing the Japanese approval.
The Japanese authorisation for Relvar covers use of the drugfor the treatment of asthma but not chronic obstructivepulmonary disease (COPD).
The medicine was approved in the United States in May fortreating COPD but not asthma, while in Europe the recommendationfrom the European Medicines Agency is that it be used for bothconditions.
Relvar consists of a corticosteroid to reduce inflammationand a novel long-acting beta-agonist (LABA), which is designedto open the airways. It is one of two new medicines that GSK isrelying on to reinvigorate its respiratory business as thecompany's $8 billion-a-year blockbuster Advair faces the threatof generic competition in the years ahead.
The other key new lung drug is Anoro, which combines a LABAtherapy with a long-acting muscarinic receptor antagonist(LAMA). Anoro is still awaiting approval.
Novartis's Ultibro, also known as QVA149, is just such aLABA/LAMA combination and was recommended for approval in Europein July.
Ultibro was approved in Japan for COPD and SkyePharma'sFlutiform for asthma. ($1=0.6226 British pounds) (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by David Holmes, GregMahlich)
