Once-daily indacaterol/glycopyrronium (IND/GLY) reduces use of rescue medication versus twice-daily salmeterol/fluticasone (SFC) in patients with moderate-to-very severe COPD: results from the FLAME study

Introduction Rescue Medication (RM) use is an indirect measure of symptom burden in COPD patients 1 . FLAME study assessed the use of daily RM with IND/GLY vs SFC in moderate-to-very severe COPD patients with ≥1 exacerbation in the previous year. Methods FLAME was a 52-week, multicentre, double-blind study. Patients with moderate-to-very severe COPD were randomised (1:1) to IND/GLY 110/50 µg o.d. or SFC 50/500 µg b.i.d. RM (albuterol/salbutamol) was used on 9as needed9 basis throughout the study and was captured using a daily patient e-diary. Results In total, 3362 patients were randomised. Patients in the IND/GLY treatment arm showed significantly lower mean daily, day-time number of RM puffs used and % days with no RM use vs SFC over the 52 weeks treatment period. Reductions in the night-time number of puffs were comparable between IND/GLY and SFC (table). Conclusion IND/GLY treatment resulted in a significant reduction in mean daily RM use and an increase in days without RM use compared with SFC in patients with moderate-to-very severe COPD during 52 week treatment period. Reference 1. Jenkins CR et al. BMC Pulm Med. 2015; doi: 10.1186/s12890-015-0077-0.