GSK welcomes Gina ‘control’ guidelines

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has this week welcomed recently published guidelines for the management and prevention of asthma from the Global Initiative for Asthma (Gina).

The guidelines support the use of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) in conjunction with a long-acting beta-agonist if low doses of ICS are inadequate in isolation to control symptoms. Treatment recommendations in the guidelines, based on the Gina five-step approach, underline the notion that the objective of treatment is to maintain long-term control of asthma.

GSK’s Seretide asthma control dosing (ACD) strategy is backed by the results of the gaining optimal asthma control research, which found that use of the drug with an ACD strategy resulted in three quarters of patients realising control of their symptoms as defined in the guidelines.

Darrell Baker, senior vice president of respiratory medicines development centre, commented: “We welcome the publication of the new Gina guidelines and very much support the major change in emphasis from treating according to patient severity to treating patients to control their asthma.”

He added that people with asthma should have the chance to live everyday life without being concerned about symptoms of the disease and recommended uniform and continued use of its Seretide product.

Recently published research by GSK revealed that asthma patients being treated by a discus form of Seretide had a reduced rate of hospitalisations when compared with those treated solely with fluticasone propionate.