Budesonide/Glycopyrrolate/Formoterol show promising results in COPD management in real world study

Real-life research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of budesonide/glycopyrrolate/formoterol (BGF) in routine COPD primary care management. We assessed the frequency of medication success among patients with COPD who initiated BGF using real-world data. Patients with a recorded diagnostic COPD code who started BGF with ≥ 2 prescriptions within 90-days were identified in the UK Optimum Patient Care Research Database and followed from first prescription until censoring at the end of follow-up (180-days), death, leaving database or end of data at 24/10/2022. The primary outcome was medication success at 90-days post-BGF initiation, defined as no major cardiac or respiratory event (ie no complicated COPD exacerbation, hospitalization for any respiratory event, myocardial infarction, new/hospitalized heart failure, and death) and no incidence of pneumonia. Medication success was also assessed at 180-days post-BGF initiation. Overall real-life medication success was claimed if the lower 95% confidence interval (CI) for the proportion of patients meeting the primary outcome was ≥ 70% (defined a priori).

Results: Two hundred eighty-five patients were included. Prior to BGF initiation, these patients often had severe airflow obstruction (mean ppFEV1: 54.5%), were highly symptomatic (mMRC ≥ 2: 77.9% (n = 205/263); mean CAT score: 21.7 (SD 7.8)), with evidence of short-acting β2-agonist (SABA) over-use (≥ 3 inhalers/year: 62.1%, n=179/285), repeat OCS prescriptions (≥ 2 courses/year: 33.0%, n = 95/285) and multiple primary care consultations (≥ 2 visits/year: 61.1%, n = 174/285). Overall, 39.6% of patients (n = 113/285) switched from previous triple therapies. Real-life medication success was achieved by 96.5% of patients (n = 275/285 [95% CI: 93.6, 98.3]) during 90-days treatment with BGF and by 91.8% (n = 169/184 [95% CI: 86.9, 95.4]) of patients at 180-days. The prescribed daily dose of SABA remained stable over the study period. The majority of patients initiating BGF experienced real-life medication success reflecting the absence of severe cardiopulmonary events. These benefits were apparent after 90-days of treatment and sustained over 180-days.

Reference:

Müllerová H, Chan JSK, Heatley H, Carter V, Townend J, Skinner D, Franzén S, Marshall J, Price D. Budesonide/Glycopyrrolate/Formoterol for the Management of COPD in a UK Primary Care Population: Real-World Use and Early Medication Success. Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2024;19:1153-1166 https://doi.org/10.2147/COPD.S452624