Spiriva Respimat now licensed for use in asthma sufferers as young as six in the UK

One in every eleven children in the UK has asthma, one of the highest rates of paediatric asthma in the world, and there are approximately three children admitted to hospital every hour with an asthma attack.
Boehringer Ingelheim’s Spiriva (tiotropium) Respimat is a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA), and works by preventing the air passages closing, improving airflow in and out of the lungs. It can now be prescribed as add-on maintenance bronchodilator treatment in young asthma patients in the UK from the age of 6 years who have experienced one or more severe asthma exacerbations in the past year.
Professor David Halpin, Consultant Physician at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital said: “Asthma is one of the most common long-term illnesses in childhood and yet there are relatively few treatments which have been proven to be of benefit in young patients. I welcome this expanded indication for Spiriva Respimat, which is based upon robust clinical trial evidence, and which recognises the efficacy and safety of tiotropium maintenance therapy in patients as young as 6 years old as well as adults.”