A Once-Daily Oral Drug for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease That Treats COPD-Related Inflammation Could Achieve Blockbus...( Although Physicians Report Satisfact...),Health

Although Physicians Report Satisfaction with GlaxoSmithKline's Advair and Boehringer Ingelheim/Pfizer's Spiriva, Significant Need Remains for a Novel Anti-Inflammatory Drug, According to a New Report from Decision Resources

WALTHAM, Mass., Feb. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that surveyed physicians indicate that a novel, non- steroidal, anti-inflammatory agent for COPD that improves lung function could capture a significant share of the COPD market by replacing GlaxoSmithKline's Advair (also marketed as Seretide and Adoair).

The new report entitled Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Opportunity Lies in Drugs That Address COPD-Related Inflammation finds that an oral, once- daily drug that treats COPD-related inflammation and improves lung function could achieve blockbuster status by 2016. Although an effective anti- inflammatory drug for COPD could replace Advair, it would likely be used in combination with Boehringer Ingelheim/Pfizer's Spiriva, according to the report. Spiriva's efficacy, safety, and convenience make it the current gold standard treatment for COPD but Advair's higher price, longer presence on the market and high prescribing by doctors made Advair the COPD market-share leader in 2006.

The report also finds that, following its approval in 2011 for the indication, Forest Laboratories/Almirall Prodesfarma's aclidinium will become the clinical gold standard for COPD by 2016. Aclidinium, a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA), will achieve gold standard status by 2016 because of its faster onset of action when compared to Spiriva.

"Because Spiriva is the first-to-market LAMA and has extensive clinical data and physician experience, we don't expect aclidinium to immediately achieve wide acceptance upon launch as the gold standard for COPD as physicians must first gain clinical experience with the d
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