Coinciding with the annual European Respiratory Society Congress, ERS
2012, SPIRIVA® (tiotropium), the first once-daily long-acting
inhaled anticholinergic maintenance treatment for patients with Chronic
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) will mark its 10th
anniversary since launch. With over 25 million patient years of
experience, once-daily SPIRIVA® is the most
prescribed COPD maintenance treatment worldwide. This
unique position is rooted in the wealth of clinical trial data available
to prove tiotropium's clinical efficacy in reducing breathlessness
(dyspnoea) and the risk of exacerbations as well as improving patients'
quality of life. Over the years, more than 175
clinical trials with tiotropium in COPD have been conducted
investigating a broad range of patients in studies of up to four years.
"What is important to note is that from the first COPD patients to
receive SPIRIVA® over ten years ago, to the thousands who are
currently prescribed it every day, SPIRIVA® has made a
significant and lasting contribution to our scientific understanding and
management of COPD," said Professor Antonio Anzueto, Professor of
Medicine Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine, University of Texas Health
Science Center at San Antonio, Texas, USA. "This has been chronicled
through evidence from large scale clinical trials, notably UPLIFT®
and POET-COPD®, which prove the efficacy of SPIRIVA®
in reducing the risk of exacerbations, improving lung function, reducing
shortness of breath and increasing patient quality of life."
SPIRIVA®
reduces the risk of exacerbations and improves lung function in low risk
patients as defined by the new GOLD COPD Patient Group criteria
Data presented at ERS 2012 provide further evidence from one of the
pivotal long-term SPIRIVA® trials, UPLIFT®,
demonstrating a reduced risk of exacerbations with SPIRIVA®
in low risk COPD patients (GOLD Patient Groups A and B). This adds to
the body of evidence that SPIRIVA® reduces the risk of
exacerbations in all GOLD Patient Groups.
In the analysis of the UPLIFT® trial presented at ERS 2012,
the study investigators showed that in low risk COPD patients: