A study presented at the CHEST Annual Meeting 2019 found that the median time to onset of bronchodilation was shorter after treatment with nebulized arformoterol tartrate versus salmeterol or placebo in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), regardless of baseline disease severity.β-agonist Powder
Researchers conducted two identical 12-week, randomized, phase III studies that evaluated the improvement in airway function with arformoterol tartrate in patients with COPD. Arformoterol tartrate is a long-acting beta2-agnosist approved for the long-term maintenance treatment of bronchoconstriction in patients with COPD.
A total of 1,456 patients (mean predicted forced expiratory volume in one second [FEV1], 40.6%) received nebulized arformoterol tartrate at three doses: 15 μg, 25 μg, or 50 μg twice daily; salmeterol 42 μg twice daily; or placebo.
Serial spirometry assessments were performed immediately and at 14 and 40 minutes after the first dose, as well as one, two, three, four, five, six, eight, 10, 12, 23, and 24 hours after the first dose. Researchers defined time to onset of bronchodilation as a 12% change in FEV1 from baseline.
In all arformoterol tartrate dose cohorts, time to onset of bronchodilation was faster in those with the lowest baseline FEV1 percent predicted. The median time to onset of bronchodilation for arformoterol tartrate 15 μg, stratified by baseline FEV1 percent predicted (<30, 30-49, and ≥50), was 1.8, 3.6, and 42.2 minutes, respectively. The median time to onset was longer for placebo (122.1, 290.3, and not available minutes, respectively), as well as salmeterol (14.6, 16.0, and 43.7 minutes, respectively) compared with arformoterol tartrate. “These data highlight to rapid onset of bronchodilation observed with arformoterol tartrate 15 μg twice daily,” the authors noted.
