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news.GlaxoSmithKline has announced that a head-to-head study comparing common treatments for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has showed that, although Seretide 50/500micrograms Diskus and tiotropium bromide 18micrograms Handihaler had a similar impact on rate of exacerbations, patients treated with Seretide gained a significant improvement in health status and greater survival benefit than patients treated with tiotropium.
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According to GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the INSPIRE (investigating new standards for prophylaxis in reduction of exacerbations) study is the first to investigate differences in exacerbation rates and related outcomes associated with two commonly used medicines in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The primary endpoint of the INSPIRE study was a comparative reduction in exacerbations, a sudden worsening of symptoms, which are debilitating and increase as the disease progresses. Interestingly, while the number of exacerbations reported between the two study groups was not significantly different, overall rates were 1.28 for Seretide and 1.32 for tiotropium bromide (p=0.656), the treatment for the acute exacerbation chosen by investigators while blinded was different.
Exacerbations requiring antibiotics occurred more frequently in patients treated with Seretide while exacerbations requiring systemic steroids occurred more frequently in patients taking tiotropium, suggesting that the nature of the exacerbations was dissimilar and that COPD treatments affect individuals in different ways.
Further findings from INSPIRE showed that Seretide reduced the risk of COPD patients dying from any cause by 52% compared to patients on tiotropium bromide, a statistically significant finding (p=0.012). This reduction in the risk of dying was seen by week 13 of treatment and continued to grow throughout the study.