UK Doctors Given Green Light To Use Combination Inhalers - GlaxoSmithKline Welcomes NICE Guidance For Adults With Chronic Asthma

Main Category: Respiratory / Asthma
Article Date: 27 Mar 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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GlaxoSmithKline welcomes NICE guidance issued on Wednesday 26th March, which recommends combination treatments such as Seretide® (salmeterol/fluticasone propionate) as an option for adults, needing both an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and a long-acting beta2 agonist (LABA) to control their asthma.1

The guidance gives healthcare professionals the freedom to choose between a combination treatment or separate devices for ICS and LABA, stating that treatment decisions should be made on a patient-by-patient basis, taking into consideration the likelihood of adherence and therapeutic need.1 Combination inhalers can be a cheaper option than separate inhalers for delivering these two components.1

The NICE guidance is based on an established body of evidence that if a patient is poorly controlled on ICS alone, adding a LABA is more effective than increasing the dose of ICS. This is in line with the current British Thoracic Society and Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network asthma guideline.2

Over 5 million people in the UK have asthma.1 Poorly controlled asthma has a significant impact on quality of life, causing frequent exacerbations and night-time awakenings, as well as being responsible for 74,000 emergency admissions each year.3,4 The symptoms of nine out of ten patients should be controllable with the treatments currently available.4

Notes

About Seretide®

Seretide® (salmeterol/fluticasone proprionate) is the most widely used ICS/LABA combination treatment in the UK4.

Seretide is a registered trademark of the GlaxoSmithKline group of companies.

About GSK

GlaxoSmithKline - one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies - is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For company information visit http://www.gsk.com.

References

1. Inhaled corticosteroids for the treatment of chronic asthma in adults. NICE technology appraisal guidance 138. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. March 08

2. British Thoracic Society/Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network. British Guideline on the Management of Asthma: A National Clinical Guidance. July 2007

3. Everyday asthma out of control? A report published by Asthma UK, 2004

4. National Asthma Campaign. Out in the open: A true picture of asthma in the United Kingdom today. National Asthma Campaign Audit 2001. Asthma J 2001;6(suppl):1-14

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