Boehringer’s COPD drug passes hurdle
pharmafile | May 23, 2012 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Boehringer, COPD, Daxas, Relovair, Spiriva, olodaterol
Boehringer Ingelheim’s once-daily bronchodilator olodaterol has improved lung function versus placebo in a Phase II trial.
The manufacturer wants the investigational long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) to be a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) maintenance treatment to go with its number one product Spiriva (tiotropium).
In data presented this week at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Thoracic Society, the efficacy of olodaterol once-daily was compared with a twice-daily dose of the drug.
The company says the statistically significant increase in the lung function parameter for at least 24 hours with a once-daily (QD) 5 µg dose, was as pronounced as that observed with a QD 10 µg dose.
Also, the QD 5 µg dose offered a superior 24-hour profile to both the QD 10 µg and twice-daily 2 µg doses in Phase II, and all doses were well tolerated.
Boehringer says some Phase III trials have also been completed and results from these will be presented at future medical meetings.
Olodaterol monotherapy and the fixed-dose combination with long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) Spiriva are being developed in the Respimat soft mist inhaler (SMI).
“Our ultimate goal is to provide physicians and patients with a very efficient once-daily LAMA/LABA fixed-dose combination,” said Boehringer corporate senior vice president Klaus Dugi.
The trial’s co-ordinating investigator, Professor Guy Joos from Ghent University Hospital, Belgium, said: “It is promising to see that the strong efficacy results of the Phase II programme were achieved with the comparably low QD 5µg dose and a favourable safety profile.”
Last year a study published in the BMJ suggested that the Respimat SMI, used to deliver Spiriva to COPD patients, may be linked to an increased risk of death.
The TOviTO Phase III trial programme is currently studying the efficacy of a once-daily fixed-dose combination of Spiriva and olodaterol.
This “could provide important evidence to support the potential of tiotropium and olodaterol to improve patients’ lives beyond optimal bronchodilation”, Boehringer says.
Rival COPD treatments already on the market include Merck’s once-daily pill Daxas (roflumilast) and GlaxoSmithKline’s older, top-selling Seretide/Advair.
GSK also says it is on course to file Relovair – its hoped-for follow-up to this blockbuster – in Europe and the US despite mixed results in late-stage trials.
The latest World Health Organisation figures estimate that more than 21 million people are currently living with COPD.
Adam Hill
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