A new asthma pill developed by Novartis AG (ADR) (NYSE:NVS) could revolutionize the treatment of the respiratory illness.
The trial
of the drug fevipiprant lasted 12 weeks and it treated 61 patients, helping to diminish the symptoms of asthma, boosting lung function, reducing inflammation and improving the lining of airways.
The Novartis medication reduced the average rate of asthma in patients by 5.4% to 1.1% over the three-month period. The research was designed to measure how fevipiprant affects the sputum eosinophil count–if this figure is greater than 3%, there is likely an inflammation on the lungs such as bronchitis, and if it is greater than 5%, the asthma can be quite severe.
One group of patients received 225mg of the drug twice a day, while the other group received a placebo. Additional medication was taken by the patients.
Fevipiprant could be approved by health regulators as soon as 2019, helping to reduce asthma attacks and the hospitalizations that occur due to the illness. More advanced studies that take place over a longer period of time are necessary to determine how effective the drug really is.
The study was funded by Novartis, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the EU (AirPROM). Scientists at Leicester University conducted the test, and the research will be published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
The preferred treatment of asthma at the moment are either inhalers or nebulizers, which help to clear out the lungs with pressurized air that contains small doses of asthma medication.
Asthma pills existed about five decades ago, but these drugs often caused dangerous side effects.
The illness affects about 26 million Americans, making it difficult for air to enter and leave the lungs.
NVS stock is down 1.1% Monday.
