Boehringer Ingelheim study highlights new avenue for improving COPD treatment

Boehringer Ingelheim has highlighted the results of a new study showing a potential way of improving the success of treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The company has reported clinical data showing that levels of white blood cells called eosinophils can help identify patients with COPD who may and may not benefit from the addition of inhaled corticosteroid treatment.

This is important due to the fact that for 80 percent of patients involved in the WISDOM study, the use of inhaled corticosteroids on top of Spiriva and a long-acting beta 2-agonist had no additional benefit in reducing the risk of exacerbations or flare-ups.

Since only a small minority of patients are able to benefit from this treatment, measuring the level of eosinophils in the blood could be a useful means of identifying these individuals.

Dr William Mezzanotte, vice-president and head of respiratory medicine at Boehringer Ingelheim, said: "These results are thought-provoking and add to the current debate about the appropriate use of inhaled corticosteroid therapy in COPD. We look forward to further discussion and investigation of this important topic."

This comes after the company received European regulatory approval for Giotrif as a new oral therapy for squamous cell carcinoma of the lung last week.