AstraZeneca: Symbicort study challenges accepted practice

AstraZeneca has claimed a new study involving its anti-asthma treatment, Symbicort, could challenge the established use of maintenance therapy plus rapid-acting beta-2 agonists to control asthma.

All patients in a study of 3,394 asthma patients aged over 12 were given Symbicort as a maintenance therapy, but groups were given formoterol, budesonide/formoterol or terbutaline as an “as-needed” therapy in addition to Symbicort.

The study, entitled SMILE, showed that as-needed budesonide/formoterol was most effective out of the three options, while formoterol was found to be more effective than terbutaline when combined with Symbicort maintenance therapy.

Professor Peter Barnes, head of respiratory medicine at Imperial College, London, remarked: “These are exciting results and demonstrate that the inhaled budesonide component of the combination inhaler plays an important role in preventing exacerbations when delivered via a single inhaler for symptom relief as well as maintenance therapy in the treatment of asthma.”

Professor Umesh Lalloo, head of the department of pulmonology at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine of the University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa and key study investigator, concluded: “Today’s results support a new paradigm in the treatment of asthma exacerbations, whereby concurrent administration of anti-inflammatory medication to long-acting beta-2 agonists improves asthma control.”

Symbicort is AstraZeneca’s second best-selling respiratory drug, brining in revenues of $585 million during the second quarter of 2006. Pulmicort is the company’s best-selling respiratory drug, although growth in Symbicort sales has outstripped those of Pulmicort.

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