COPD Will Be Third Leading Cause of Death Globally by 2030, Warns World Health Organization
Dubai, United Arab Emirates: A new daily inhaler for those with the smoking-related respiratory disease, known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), has been licensed by the UAE Ministry of Health (MoH), it was announced today by the drug's makers Novartis.
The drug called Onbrez Breezhaler® (indacaterol) is the only long-acting beta2- adrenergic agonist bronchodilator that lasts 24 hours, where as others need to be taken several times a day. Bronchodilators are the corner stone of COPD treatment and are recommended as first line treatment in international COPD guidelines.
Predictions by the World Health Organization warn COPD will be the third leading cause of death globally by 2030, behind heart disease and stroke. Globally prevalence of COPD currently sits at between four and six percent and about 80 percent of cases are linked to cigarette smoking (1).
"A bronchodilator that only needs to be used once-a-day rather than several times will improve efficacy of the dug and patient compliance, as it will be easier for patients to remember to use the inhaler and keep to their prescribed treatment regimen," said Dr. Bassam Mahboub, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Sharjah University.
Dr. Ashraf Al Zaabi, Head of the Respiratory division, Zayed Military Hospital, Abu Dhabi, who last year carried out the first ever UAE prevalence study into COPD, added that improving compliance is key issue to improving lung function and reducing mortality in COPD patients.
"Generally less than 50 percent of those who suffer from a chronic disease, including COPD, fail to take their medications properly and so compliance is a big issue. There are a number of things you can do to improve compliance one of which is reducing the number of times patients have to take their medication. So having a once daily bronchodilator is definitely a big step forward in the right direction," he commented.
"We know from research studies of patients with respiratory disease that the more times they have to take their inhaler the lower their drug compliance which in turn increases their risk of mortality," explained Dr. Al Zaabi, whose own study shows that 3.7 percent of Emiratis in Abu Dhabi aged 40-80 suffer from COPD (2).
The UAE MoH and Dubai Health Authority have licensed and approved Onbrez Breezhaler® and it is now available on prescription at associated hospital and pharmacies. Health Authority Abu Dhabi is in the process of assessing the medication and it should be available in the capital and Al Ain later in the year.
The UAE licensing comes at the same time as the US Food and Drug Administration approved indacaterol 75mcg, under the brand name Arcapta, as a maintenance bronchodilator for adults with chronic COPD on 1 July 2011.
Underscoring the approvals is data from more than 6,000 patients showing that indacaterol improves lung function and provides clinically relevant improvement in symptoms of breathlessness compared with standard treatment.
"We are very pleased that COPD patients in the UAE will now be able to take advantage of the first-ever daily bronchodilator which we hope will improve treatment compliance and symptom control," said Dr. Ahmed Amin, Medical Director, Middle East Cluster, Novartis Pharma.
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About Novartis:
Novartis provides healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Focused solely on healthcare Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals, preventive vaccines, diagnostic tools and consumer health products. Novartis is the only company with leading positions in these areas. In 2010, the Group's continuing operations achieved net sales of USD 50.6 billion, while approximately USD 9.1 billion (USD 8.1 billion excluding impairment and amortization charges) was invested in R&D throughout the Group. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis Group companies employ approximately 119,000 full-time-equivalent associates (including 16,700 Alcon associates) and operate in more than 140 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com
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Research:
[1] World Health Organization, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Burden: http://www.who.int/respiratory/copd/burden/en/
[2] Al Zaabi A, et al., Prevalence of COPD in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Respiratory Medicine (2011), doi:10.1016/j.rmed.2010.12.008
© Press Release 2011
