AstraZeneca announced disappointing top-line results from the AERISTO Phase IIIb trial for theBevespi Aerospherein patients with moderate to very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The inhaled drug did not perform better than a similar drug.
Dr Colin Reisner, head of Respiratory, Global Medicines Development, said: “The efficacy and safety ofBevespi Aerospherehas been established by the Phase III PINNACLE trial program involving more than 5,000 patients. The performance ofBevespi Aerospherein AERISTO is inconsistent with previous data. A full analysis is underway to understand and characterize these findings and will be presented at a forthcoming medical meeting.”
Bevespi Aerosphereis approved in the US and Canada for the long-term maintenance treatment of airflow obstruction in COPD.Bevespi Aerosphereis currently under review by the European Medicines Agency with a regulatory decision anticipated in the second half of this year.
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Christiana Care 500 newsletter in post V3 Summer 2018
COPD is a progressive disease which can cause obstruction of airflow in the lungs resulting in bouts of breathlessness.1It affects an estimated 384 million people worldwide and is predicted to be the third leading cause of death by 2020. The condition is often tied to smoking.
About one-third of COPD patients have severe or very severe forms of the disease.Improving lung function, reducing exacerbations and managing daily symptoms such as breathlessness are important to the management of COPD.