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| |  DG DISPATCH - ERS: Extra Fine-Particle Beclomethasone As Effective As Other Popular Anti-Asthma Drugs By Cameron Johnston Special to DG News FLORENCE, ITALY -- September 1, 2000 -- Two European studies presented at the European Respiratory Society annual meeting, being held here this week, have shown that an extra-fine formulation of beclomethasone dipropionate, administered via a novel type of inhaler, is at least as effective as fluticasone and as effective as twice the dose of budesonide. Makers of the drug, 3M Health Care, of Loughborough, England, also claim that patients can be safely switched from the more conventional form of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) beclomethasone to the newer version with no adverse effects. In the first study, adults who had been diagnosed with moderately severe symptomatic asthma and who were not successfully treated with oral steroids received 400 mcg/day of beclomethasone or 800 mcg/day of budesonide over a six week period. A second arm of the study saw patients receiving 800 mcg/day of beclomethasone and 1600 mcg/day of budesonide. Overall, there were no differences in patient outcomes regardless of what drug was used. However, at certain time-points during the study, patients receiving beclomethasone experienced more symptom-free days and fewer nights with sleep disturbances. This finding was repeated at weeks three and six of the study. A dose-dependent improvement in morning FEV/1 (forced expiratory volume over one second) was more or less the same between the two drugs. In another study, patients were treated with 800 mcg/day of beclomethasone administered through hydrofluoroalkane-propelled (HFA-Autohaler), or 1000 mcg/day of fluticasone, administered through a non-CFC inhaler Over an eight-week period, the beclomathasone was "at least as effective" as the fluticasone. Patients showed clinically and statistically significant improvements in asthma control for each of the two drugs, said Dr. Richard Spiers, medical director with 3M in Loughborough. It is believed that beclomathasone offers the same benefit as the other drugs because of what researchers call extra-fine particle size - the "grains" of powder that make up the drug and are used in the Autohaler - are 1.1 microns in diameter, whereas most conventional anti-asthmatic drugs use particles in the order of 3.5 to 4.0 microns in diameter. The smaller particulate size allows for better deposition of the drug deep within the lungs. Approximately 50 percent of the extra fine particles are delivered to the lungs, as compared with less than five percent that is delivered with conventional inhalers. The amount of the drug that reaches the lungs and is not left in the throat or in the oropharangeal area is reduced to one-third of the amount that is wasted with conventional inhalers. To date, more than 4900 patients have taken part in clinical trials comparing Qvar with conventional beclomethasone diproprionate in Britain alone. The results of the combined studies show that those patients using the newer extra-fine version of the drug required fewer courses of cortico-steroid therapy and were admitted to hospital for emergency asthma attacks less frequently than those using the conventionally delivered formulation of the drug.
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