WALTHAM, Mass., Aug. 24 /PRNewswire/ — Decision Resources, one
of the world’s leading research and advisory firms for
pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that some surveyed
physicians indicate that they will decrease their overall
prescribing of long-acting beta2 agonists (LABA)/inhaled
corticosteroids (ICS) combination therapies over the next 12 months
for the treatment of asthma in response to the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration’s new safety controls for LABA-containing
medications. Most notably, the FDA controls state that LABA/ICS
combination medications should be reserved for patients who remain
uncontrolled despite treatment with controller medications (e.g.,
single-agent ICS therapies).
According to the new report entitled Treatment Algorithms
in Asthma, more than 40 percent of surveyed physicians
report that they will decrease their prescribing of LABA/ICS
combinations prior to attempting treatment with a single-agent ICS
drug over the next 12 months.
While surveyed physicians indicate that the FDA controls for
LABA-containing drugs will affect their decision to prescribe a
LABA/ICS combination therapy prior to attempting treatment with a
single-agent ICS, surveyed physicians also report that
first-line prescribing of LABA/ICS combinations remains common. In
particular, surveyed physicians are most likely to prescribe a
LABA/ICS combination, such as GlaxoSmithKline’s Advair or
AstraZeneca’s Symbicort, as a first-line maintenance therapy for
newly diagnosed adult patients with moderate or severe persistent
asthma.
“Some surveyed physicians say they will decrease their use of
LABA/ICS combination medications for the treatment of asthma, a
trend that may have positive implications for the single-agent ICS
class of therapies,” said Decision Resources Analyst Martin Quinn.
“As a result, marketers of LABA/ICS combination medications and
single-agent ICS therapies must focus not only on competitive
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