Emerging drugs in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

New Pharmacological Treatments for Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pumonary Disease (Copd)

“…Recently, in 635 patients with moderate to severe COPD, indacaterol demonstrated dose-dependent significant improvements of FEV1, similar to tiotropium, but with a faster onset of action 23,24 . Improvement of lung function persisted throughout a 24 h dosing interval, with a good safety profile over a 28-day period 21 . COPD exacerbations and symptoms, and health-related quality of life were also significantly improved for indacaterol versus placebo recipients in some studies.…”

“…These long-acting bronchodilators have a significantly positive effect on FEV1, lung volumes, dyspnea, exacerbation rate and quality of life [12][13][14][15][16] . Since inflammation in patients with COPD is, at least partly, corticosteroid-resistant, due to a reduced activity of the histone deacetylase the use of glucocorticosteroids (GCs) remains controversial 10,12,[16][17][18][19][20][21] . However, this treatment is recommended for moderate/severe COPD rather than mild COPD since there is no other therapeutic option 10,13 .…”

“…However, this treatment is recommended for moderate/severe COPD rather than mild COPD since there is no other therapeutic option 10,13 . A large clinical trial has shown improvements in lung function, and decreased exacerbation frequency in individuals receiving combined inhaled GC and LABA treatment versus placebo and oral GC therapy is also recommended for the treatment of COPD exacerbations [10][11][12][13][18][19][20][21] . The use of theophyllines has been associated with a reduction in the rate of COPD exacerbations compared with long-acting β2-agonists among COPD patients.…”

“…At present, LABAs are administered twice daily; nonetheless, in order to improve adherence, several once daily formulations of LABAs are in clinical development, the most promising are carmoterol and indacaterol [19][20][21] .…”

“…There are two oral CXCR2 antagonists in clinical Phase I development: AZD8309 and SCH527123 (ref. 21,23 ). ADZ8309 has recently been shown to inhibit neutrophil inflammation in the lung following inhaled endotoxin challenge in normal volunteers.…”