As GSK announced its 2011 results, which included sales declines for Advair (Seretide) in the US and Europe, and after the announcement that it plans to file a marketing application for its Relovair fluticasone furoate/vilanterol DPI despite disappointing data, Bloomberg took note of GSK’s recent study of a cheaper capsule-based inhaler for delivery of Advair (Seretide).
The 60-patient double-blind, double-dummy study is described on the clinicaltrials.gov website as “a comparative bioavailability study to compare the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic effects of Fluticasone propionate and Salmeterol delivered in a capsule-based inhaler versus a multi-dose dry powder inhaler in patients with moderate asthma and in patients with moderate to severe COPD” and specifies that the inhalers involved are the Rotacaps and the Diskus.
Bloomberg notes that “A single-dose, capsule-based inhaler is less complex and less expensive than the Advair Diskus, and may be aimed at customers in emerging markets,” and “The experimental product may also be targeting possible generic versions of Advair, such as VR 315, which is being developed by Novartis AG (NOVN)’s Sandoz unit and Vectura Group Plc (VEC).”
Read GSk’s 2011 report.
Read the Bloomberg article.
Read the clinicaltrials.gov study description.
