Results Suggested Improvements in Several Endpoints for Advair Diskus(R) Compared to ICS Alone

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., June 10 /PRNewswire/ -- African Americanpatients with asthma treated with Advair Diskus, a combination of thelong-acting beta-agonist (LABA) salmeterol and the inhaled corticosteroid(ICS) fluticasone propionate, had a lower rate of exacerbations when comparedwith patients who received treatment with the ICS Flovent Diskus(R)(fluticasone propionate inhalation powder) alone, although the difference wasnot statistically significant. Patients in the Advair group also showedimprovements in lung function measures, nighttime awakenings due to asthma,and reductions in daily symptoms and rescue inhaler use compared to Flovent.The data was published in the June 2008 issue of Current Medical Research andOpinion.

This large prospective trial, which followed 475 patients who receivedeither twice-daily Advair Diskus 100/50 (fluticasone propionate and salmeterolinhalation powder) or twice-daily Flovent Diskus 100mcg for a year, was thefirst prospective study to assess the addition of a LABA to an ICS compared toICS alone in African Americans with persistent asthma.

In this study, Advair provided important benefits to patients and noincreased rate of adverse events compared with Flovent in the African Americanpatient population. The findings of the study also contribute to the body ofevidence which has found that salmeterol (a LABA) is not associated with anincrease in serious asthma-related events when used with an ICS, but ratherprovides clinical benefits for patients who require more than ICS treatmentalone to control their asthma.

'Uncontrolled asthma is a critical public health issue for AfricanAmericans, and this research is reassuring for clinicians whose patients arenot controlled on an ICS alone that treatment with Advair helps improveday-to-day asthma control,' said William Bailey, M.D., lead author andDirector of the Lung Health Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.'Preventing exacerbations and improving lung function are important goals ofasthma management.'

Current treatment guidelines recommend the addition of a LABA to an ICS inpatients with moderate to severe asthma who are uncontrolled on an ICS alone.Taken in combination, an ICS and LABA fight the two main components of asthma-- inflammation (swelling in the airways) and airway constriction (thetightening of muscles that surround the airways). Inhaled corticosteroidstreat the inflammation, while LABAs treat the airway constriction.