It’ a £13-a-month lifesaver. So why can’t Scots patients get it?
New inhaler that could cut asthma deaths is not fully licensed in UK
Scotland’s death toll from asthma could be dramatically cut by issuing of an inhaler that costs just £13, according to a leading expert.
However, the new device is not available in Scotland and has yet to be approved by UK drug authorities.
Last week The Sunday Post revealed twice as many women die each year from the condition as men.
The latest Scottish Government figures show asthma claimed the lives of 80 women and 34 men in 2018.
Now asthma specialist, professor Brian Lipworth of Dundee University, is calling for British patients to be given access to the Symbicort inhaler.
It combines the functions of two types of inhalers – one offering relief, the other prevention – into one device. Professor Lipworth of the Scottish Centre for Respiratory Research at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, says many asthma patients take only one inhaler, the reliever, when they suffer an asthma attack.
“Deaths and emergency admissions to hospital are caused by poor adherence to preventer inhalers, over-relying on reliever inhalers and under-use of preventers, and using the device incorrectly. “Only 30% of patients take their inhalers correctly, or the prescribed dose.
“The combined type of inhaler is called Symbicort and delivers preventer and reliever drugs all in one easy-to-use device. It makes patients adhere to their preventer much better and it improves control while reducing asthma attacks.
“Several large clinical trials show such a combination inhaler used on demand reduces asthma attacks and improves control.”
The combination inhaler on demand is called anti-inflammatory reliever therapy.
“Other combination inhalers for asthma cannot be used in this way for on demand relief,” Professor Lipworth added. “But the anti-inflamatory reliever therapy has yet to be approved by the UK.
“It is only currently licensed in the UK for maintenance and reliever therapy not for reliever alone.”
It does not have European Medicines Agency approval and the subsequent approval for demand use by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
It is, however, endorsed by the Global Initiative for Asthma as the preferred reliever for the condition.
“I am sure it will drive down deaths and reduce hospital admissions for asthma,” Professor Lipworth added.
The combined Symbicort inhaler costs about £13 per month.
Some 363,000 people in Scotland have asthma, one of the highest rates in the world.
Over the five years to 2018, asthma claimed the lives of 404 women and 163 men. The number of men admitted to hospital fell to 43.8 per 100,000 of the population but for women that rose to 71.9.
The UK-wide National Review of
Asthma Deaths found two-thirds of deaths were preventable with good, basic care.
Symbicort manufacturer AstraZenica said it had withdrawn an earlier application to the European Medicines Agency but would reapply soon.
It added that it was restricted to use as a preventer in the UK but aimed to secure approval for reliever use.
Asthma sufferer Diane Robb, 36, spent Christmas in Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, after being rushed by ambulance from her home in Arbroath following a major asthma attack.
“Many asthma patients are on two inhalers and forget to use the preventers,” she said.
“An easy-to-use one that simplifies use and saves time has to be licensed as a reliever.