FDA panel votes against Foradil and Serevent, but backs Symbicort and Advair

UK drug major GlaxoSmithKline and Anglo-Swedish firm AstraZeneca have won backing from a US Food and Drug Administration advisory panel to continue selling their combination asthma drugs to patients of all ages.

However, the panel ruled that the risks for asthma drugs that contained only long-acting beta-agonists outweighed their benefits. The outcome could result in marketing suspensions for Swiss drug major Novartis' Foradil (formoterol fumarate), which is marketed by US firm Schering-Plough, and GSK's Serevent (salmeterol).

The FDA's Joint Advisory Committee reached its conclusions after considering an analysis conducted by the agency the previous week of all products in the LABA class, which includes several blockbusters.