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news.New findings have shown that treatment with Sanofi-Aventis and Altana Pharma's Alvesco significantly reduced oral corticosteroid use in adults with severe, persistent asthma while maintaining asthma control.
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Alvesco (ciclesonide) is an inhaled corticosteroid with novel release and distribution properties. Inhaled corticosteroids, considered to be the foundation of asthma treatment, work by reducing inflammation – the underlying disease process – in the lungs and airways.
The reduction of oral corticosteroid (OCS) use with the replacement of ciclesonide (CIC) was evaluated in a phase III trial. The primary objective was the percent reduction in OCS dose from baseline to week 12. Secondary variables included the number of patients who eliminated OCS therapy and change in OCS dose.
The results showed that approximately 30% of patients treated with ciclesonide were able to eliminate their OCS use entirely. All ciclesonide doses resulted in a significant percent change from baseline in OCS dose compared with placebo and OCS dose was also significantly changed from baseline in ciclesonide-treated patients.
“These findings are important because oral corticosteroids such as prednisone are known to cause systemic adverse events which can be reduced by replacing them with inhaled corticosteroids,” said Dr Sally Wenzel, professor at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, Colorado.