GSK's asthma drugs not impacted by genetic profiles

Data presented by GlaxoSmithKline showed that genetic differences at the site of the beta-2 adrenergic receptor gene in asthma patients did not lead to different responses to Advair Diskus (fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder) or Serevent Diskus (salmeterol xinofoate inhalation powder).

Past prospective clinical trials have found that the use of short-acting beta-agonists, such as albuterol, were linked to worse outcomes in patients with asthma with the Arg/Arg genotype of the beta-2 adrenergic receptor gene. In the research presented, those patients with the Arg/Arg profile responded to Advair (the combination of an inhaled corticosteroid and a long-acting beta-agonist) or Serevent (a long-acting beta-agonist) treatment as well as those patients with the two other forms of the gene (Arg/Gly and Gly/Gly).

The data (abstract no 554) was presented by Eugene Bleecker, a professor of medicine and co-director of the Center for Human Genomics of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine at the 2008 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology annual meeting in Philadelphia.