Home  Media Press releases 2004
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| 22 March 2004 | 2004-03-22T00:00:00.0000000-00:00 |
| SYMBICORT® SINGLE INHALER THERAPY (SYMBICORT® SiT) DEMONSTRATES SUPERIOR ASTHMA CONTROL USING ONLY ONE INHALER
New data, announced today at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI), San Francisco, highlights the benefits of Symbicort®(budesonide/formoterol) Single inhaler Therapy (Symbicort® SiT), a new approach to asthma management. The research shows that superior asthma control is achieved by using just one inhaler combining both maintenance and reliever medication, compared to traditional asthma treatment with a higher fixed daily dose of an inhaled corticosteroid and a separate rescue inhaler. This new dosing regimen is currently under review by the European Mutual Recognition Procedure as an addition to the currently approved dosing regimen for Symbicort®, where a separate reliever medication is required. | The data presented at the AAAAI annual conference is derived from two studies. The first, a six-month study known as STEAM, involved 697 mild to moderate asthma patients and demonstrated that asthma therapy with Symbicort® SiT reduced the number of severe exacerbations by 54 per cent in contrast to higher doses of a separate inhaled corticosteroid and a rescue inhaler. The number of hospitalisations and emergency room visits were ten-fold lower and days with oral steroids were significantly reduced by 77 per cent with Symbicort® SiT.
The second, a 12 month study known as STEP, involved 1,890 moderate to severe asthma patients and also demonstrated that Symbicort® SiT significantly reduced the risk of severe exacerbations by 39 per cent compared with an even higher fixed dose of inhaled corticosteroid and a separate rescue inhaler. Those patients using Symbicort® SiT also took significantly less inhalations of rescue medication compared with those on fixed dosing of inhaled corticosteroid and separate rescue, which is a clear sign of day-to-day improvements in asthma control.
Many asthma patients rely on short-acting bronchodilators for rapid relief of symptoms. While short-acting bronchodilators provide symptom relief, they have limited effect on asthma control. With the Symbicort® SiT approach, short-acting bronchodilators are replaced by effective, rapid and long-acting relief medication plus anti-inflammatory therapy. This single-inhaler approach provides sustained maintenance therapy with as-needed dose adjustments at the first sign of symptoms to prevent any breakthrough symptoms developing into an attack.
Once approved, Symbicort® SiT has the potential to revolutionise asthma management by making asthma treatment more effective and simpler for both physician and patient. Symbicort® is the only combination treatment that will allow patients to adjust their dose with the same single inhaler. The current worldwide market for fixed combination asthma products is estimated to be worth $3.9 billion. To date, Symbicort® is launched in 62 markets and approved in 78 countries.
AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals and the supply of healthcare services. It is one of the top five pharmaceutical companies in the world with healthcare sales of over $18.8 billion and leading positions in sales of gastrointestinal, oncology, cardiovascular, neuroscience and respiratory products. AstraZeneca is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Global and European) as well as the FTSE4Good Index.
Media Enquiries:
Steve Brown, +44 207 304 5033
Edel McCaffrey, +44 207 304 5034
Investor Enquiries:
Mina Blair-Robinson, ++4 207 304 5084
Jonathan Hunt, +44 207 304 5087
Notes to Editors
° Symbicort® contains the inhaled corticosteroid budesonide and rapid- and long-acting beta-agonist formoterol.
° Symbicort® is the only combination treatment for asthma that allows the dose of both components to be adjusted according to disease variation, without the need to switch or add inhalers.
° Symbicort® is indicated for the treatment of asthma and severe COPD.
° Asthma treatment with Symbicort® Single inhaler Therapy is outside the current Symbicort label in the European Union. An EU regulatory application was filed in December 2003.
° Asthma is a chronic inflammatory condition of the airways characterised by reversible airway obstruction. It is a variable condition that can change both daily and seasonally.
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