NEBULIZED BECOTIDE WITHDRAWN IN UK
Nebulized Becotide (beclomethasone dipropionate) suspension has been withdrawn in the UK by manufacturer Allen & Hanburys (Glaxo group), because the particle size of the medication in the suspension is too large to allow therapeutic doses into the airway. Nebulized steroids are the only effective treatment for infants with severe asthma.
Doctors are now being advised to switch to the only other inhaled steroid on the market in a nebulizer, Astra's Pulmicort Respules (budesonide), for their infant asthma patients. Pulmicort Respules are slightly more expensive than Becotide (L1.60 per treatment compared to L1.25), but the product also has advantages in terms of oral steroid-sparing effects. A&H said that the company was advising doctors to switch to using other Becotide devices for treating patients on nebulized Becotide, such as the pediatric volumatic plus a metered dose inhaler, according to the journal General Practitioner.
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