AstraZeneca study shows potential COPD treatment

AstraZeneca said an experimental combination of lung drugs improved breathing function, potentially giving the UK firm its second chronic obstructive pulmonary disease treatment.

Patients in the late-stage study showed “significant improvement” when using a long-acting muscarinic antagonist together with a long-acting beta agonist, compared to the single therapies alone and a placebo, the London-based company said in a statement on Wednesday.

The LAMA-LABA combination, called PT003, may enable AstraZeneca to add a competing product to GlaxoSmithKline’s Anoro and Novartis’s Ultibro drugs for treating COPD. Diseases in that category, which include emphysema, killed more than three million people globally in 2012.

AstraZeneca also offers Symbicort as a COPD drug.

The company acquired PT003 when it purchased Pearl Therapeutics in 2013 for as much as $1.15 billion, depending on the development of the compounds. Analysts estimate the treatment may generate revenue of $361 million annually by 2020.

AstraZeneca said it plans to submit the drug to regulators this year.

Bloomberg