Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX) has presented data from its PLATINUM clinical development program on two asthma drugs.
This program is evaluating the inhaled combinations QVM149 (indacaterol acetate/glycopyrronium bromide/mometasone furoate) and QMF149 (indacaterol acetate/mometasone furoate), with Novartis developing once-daily fixed-dose combination treatments to help patients achieve better asthma control.
Improved lung function
Results presented from the IRIDIUM study showed that QVM149 brought a statistically-significant improvement in lung function versus QMF149, meeting the trial’s primary endpoint.
This superior improvement in lung function was achieved in asthma patients who were uncontrolled on treatment with a long-acting beta agonist/inhaled corticosteroid. Safety was comparable across treatment arms.
The key secondary endpoint of improvement in asthma control questionnaire score in the comparison was not met.
Among other secondary endpoints, IRIDIUM explored reduction of asthma exacerbation rates, where a substantial reduction was observed in moderate-to-severe and severe asthma exacerbation rates with the triple combination compared to the dual therapy.
