Investigational Novartis therapy smashes primary and secondary endpoints in uncontrolled asthma

pharmafile | May 30, 2019 | News story | Research and Development |  Novartis, QVM149, asthma, pharma 

Novartis has announced the first findings on the efficacy of its investigational asthma therapy QVM149 in the treatment of inadequately controlled forms of the condition, showing that the drug met all of its primary and secondary endpoints in the trial.

The therapy contains indacaterol acetate, a long-acting beta agonist (LABA), and mometasone furoate (MF), an inhaled corticosteroid, delivered via the Twisthaler device. After 12 weeks of treatment, it was found that QVM149 “demonstrated statistically significant improvements” in lung function compared to MF alone. Lung function was measured by trough FEV, which records the volume of air that the patient can expel in one second from a deep breath.

The investigational combo also significantly improved asthma control, as measured by the Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ)-7, compared to MF alone.

“Despite the number of available treatments, many patients’ lives remain impacted by their asthma,” commented Dr Linda Armstrong, Respiratory Development Unit Head. “The QMF149 results of the QUARTZ study complement the recently presented phase II data of QVM149 at the 2019 American Thoracic Society Congress, showing superiority of QVM149 to the current standard of care. We look forward to seeing the rest of the data from the PLATINUM clinical trial programme.”

Dr Oliver Kornmann, Pulmonary Department, Internal Medicine, University Hospital Mainz, Germany, added: “I am very pleased with the results of the QUARTZ study looking at the efficacy and safety of the fixed dose combination of indacaterol and mometasone furoate. Fixed-dose combination inhalers may offer advantages to people with asthma by simplifying complex inhaler regimens, especially when they can be dosed once daily which can therefore further reduce the burden of the disease.”

Matt Fellows