Pfizer’s (PFE) Spiriva Tops Glaxo Drug for Lung Disorder

Pfizer NYSE:PFE) and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH’s drug Spiriva reduced flare-ups for patients with a lung ailment caused by smoking more than GlaxoSmithKline Plc (NYSE:GSK)’s Serevent, according to a study.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who took Spiriva went 42 days longer than those on Serevent before experiencing exacerbation of symptoms, according to the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The yearlong trial, which involved 7,376 patients, also found that Spiriva cut the risk of the first severe flare-up requiring hospitalization by 28 percent.

Spiriva and Serevent are both standard treatments for COPD and work in different ways to open the airways and ease breathlessness. The study shows Spiriva may be better than Serevent for patients with moderate COPD and a history of recent exacerbations, Jadwiga Wedzicha, a professor of respiratory medicine at the University College London Medical School, wrote in an editorial published alongside the study today.

Doctors may choose Spiriva to “help minimize the risk of exacerbations from early on, enabling patients to lead active lives for longer,” Claus Vogelmeier, a professor in the department of internal medicine at the University of Marburg and the study’s lead investigator, said in a statement.

Pfizer closed Wednesday at $19.92, falling $0.02, or 0.10 percent.




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