GlaxoSmithKline Inhaler Trial Fails to Show Extension of Life
September 08 2015 - 5:50PM
Dow Jones News
LONDON—A large clinical trial run by GlaxoSmithKline PLC has
failed to show that the company's Breo Ellipta inhaler extends life
in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dashing
hopes of a sales boost for the product.
Glaxo had hoped that the so-called Summit study, which tested
Breo against a placebo in 16,485 patients from 43 countries, would
demonstrate that the product prolonged life as well as helped with
breathing.
Summit was the first study to test the effect on survival of
inhaler products like Breo, which open up the airways to ease
breathing in patients with asthma or COPD. It enrolled patients at
higher risk of cardiovascular disease to see if Breo could bring
added survival benefits to this group. About half of the people
diagnosed with COPD are at heightened risk of cardiovascular
disease.
The company said patients on Breo were 12.2% less at risk of
dying than those on the placebo, but the difference wasn't large
enough to be significant. The drug also reduced the rate of lung
infections and heart problems, but Glaxo said it couldn't draw any
solid conclusions from those secondary studies.
Eric Dube, head of Glaxo's global respiratory franchise, said
the study nonetheless was important as the full data set would be
"beneficial and informative to the respiratory and cardiovascular
scientific community."
Still, the results are a blow to Glaxo. A positive result could
have boosted sales of Breo by encouraging doctors to prescribe the
drug over others in patients with higher cardiovascular risk. Breo
is one of the drugs Glaxo is betting on to increase sales as its
older blockbusters lose patent protection, but the drug's market
share hasn't grown as quickly as expected because U.S. insurers
have been slow to cover the drug.
Glaxo launched Breo in 2013 as a treatment for COPD, under the
name Relvar Ellipta, and the European Medicines Agency also
approved it for use in adults with asthma.
Write to Denise Roland at Denise.Roland@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 08, 2015 17:35 ET (21:35 GMT)
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