GlaxoSmithKline plc and Innoviva, Inc. announced the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new indication for Trelegy Ellipta (fluticasone furoate / umeclidinium / vilanterol ‘FF/UMEC/VI’) for the treatment of asthma in patients aged 18 years and older adding to its current license for use in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Trelegy Ellipta is not indicated for relief of acute bronchospasm.

The FDA-approved strength for both COPD and asthma is fluticasone furoate / umeclidinium / vilanterol 100/62.5/25mcg. There is an additional strength for asthma alone which is fluticasone furoate / umeclidinium / vilanterol 200/62.5/25mcg.

The approval means Trelegy is the first single inhaler triple therapy approved for the maintenance treatment of both asthma and COPD and is the only single inhaler triple therapy available for patients in a convenient once-daily inhalation in the US. Today’s announcement marks GSK’s sixth major medicine approval in 2020 across areas of significant unmet medical need including cancer, HIV, respiratory and chronic kidney disease.

Dr Hal Barron, Chief Scientific Officer and President R&D, GSK, said: “Millions of asthma patients in the US rely on multiple inhalers to help control their condition and manage their symptoms. Today’s approval is an important advance for these patients as it allows them to benefit from triple therapy by using one inhaler, once-a-day.”

Trelegy’s approval for the maintenance treatment of asthma in patients aged 18 years and older introduces a new paradigm for managing the approximately 30% of adult asthma patients who still experience symptoms despite being adherent to inhaled corticosteroids/ long-acting beta agonist (ICS/LABA) combination therapy.

Tonya Winders, President, Global Allergy and Airways Patient Platform (GAAPP) commented: “In the US there are almost 20 million adults living with asthma and we know that many of those continue to live with and adapt their lives around ongoing symptoms, despite taking medication as prescribed by their physician. We welcome the news that for appropriate patients, Trelegy Ellipta will now be available as a new treatment option.”

Today’s approval was based on a supplemental New Drug Application which included data from the CAPTAIN study showing that in patients uncontrolled on ICS/LABA, the additional bronchodilation provided by Trelegy demonstrated significant improvements in lung function compared with FF/VI, in a single daily dose in an easy-to-use inhaler. The results from CAPTAIN were presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress this week, reinforcing the potential of once-daily single inhaler triple therapy in asthma management.

Pavel Raifeld, Chief Executive Officer of Innoviva, said: “In 2017, Trelegy Ellipta was approved in the US as the first once-daily single inhaler triple therapy for the treatment of COPD, and it remains the market leader with strong continued growth. Today’s approval in asthma is another successful outcome for our long-standing partnership with GSK and a testament to our commitment to make innovative medicines accessible to patients with respiratory diseases.”