Novartis' Onbrez Breezhaler significantly reduces COPD patient need for 'relief' medication

New analyses of data pooled from the indacaterol Phase III program for Swiss drug major's Onbrez Breezhale brand of the drug, that led to approval in the European Union and some other countries, were presented at the American Thoracic Society 2010 International Conference in New Orleans, USA. These showed that once-daily indacaterol, when compared to open-label tiotropium (18mcg, once daily), increased the percentage of days for which patients did not require any 'relief' medication by up to 13% over six months of treatment (p<0.001). >

Pooled data from three pivotal clinical trials analyzed for the first six months of treatment showed that the percentage of days for which patients did not require any relief medication ' which are short-acting bronchodilators used by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients to treat symptoms such as acute episodes of severe breathlessness ' significantly increased for patients treated with once-daily indacaterol 150mcg and 300mcg (22.8% and 25.9% change from baseline, respectively). This increase was significant when compared with open-label tiotropium (18mcg, once daily) (12.7% change from baseline; p<0.001), according to novartis.>

Bronchodilation improvement