Boehringer Ingelheim reports positive data from COPD drug trial

Boehringer Ingelheim has announced data from two 48-week phase III studies that demonstrate the benefits of olodaterol Respimat, its new therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The studies, which involved more than 3,000 patients, demonstrated that the drug was able to provide statistically significant improvements in lung function when added to the usual standard of care, including long and short-acting anticholinergics, short-acting beta agonists, inhaled corticosteroids and xanthines.

It demonstrated a rapid onset of action within five minutes of the first dose, while also helping more patients to achieve clinically meaningful improvements in quality of life compared to usual care alone.

Professor Klaus Dugi, corporate senior vice-president for medicine at Boehringer Ingelheim, said: "Olodaterol Respimat has the potential to be an effective new treatment option for COPD patients and represents the next step in a series of important advances from our robust pipeline of respiratory treatments."

This comes in the same week that the firm announced positive data from phase III studies of tiotropium Respimat, a new treatment for asthma.