26th Jan 2021 08:40
(Alliance News) - AstraZeneca PLC on Tuesday said its Symbicort Turbuhaler has been approved in China to treat mild asthma, becoming the first dual-combination therapy approved in the country for mild, moderate, and severe asthma.
The Symbicort Turbuhaler contains a combination of the drugs budesonide and formoterol. It has been approved as an anti-inflammatory reliever, taken as needed, to achieve asthma control in mild asthma for patients aged 12 years and up.
China's National Medical Products Administration approved the product based on positive results from Astra's Sygma 1 and Sygma 2 phase 3 trials.
Having already been approved in China for patients with moderate to severe asthma as an anti-inflammatory reliever plus maintenance therapy, and as a maintenance therapy only, Symbicort Turbuhaler is now the first dual-combination therapy to be approved in the country as an anti-inflammatory reliever for mild asthma.
Asthma affects around 46 million adults in China, including an estimated 34 million with mild asthma, and is a chronic disease. Asthma attack symptoms include wheezing and breathlessness.
Mene Pangalos, executive vice president of BioPharmaceuticals R&D at Astra, said: "Everyone with asthma is at risk of an attack, regardless of their age, disease severity, adherence to treatment or level of control. This approval means people with mild asthma in China can now take Symbicort Turbuhaler as an anti-inflammatory reliever to treat their symptoms and also to reduce the likelihood of an attack by treating the underlying inflammation in their airways. This approval builds on Symbicort's established role in treating moderate to severe disease."
Shares in Astra were up 0.5% at 7,940.00 pence in London on Tuesday morning.
By Anna Farley; [email protected]
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