The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 271 No 7270 p487
11 October 2003

This article
Reprint
Photocopy

R & D News summary

Related websites
European Respiratory Society congress (more)

Pro-drug improves lung function

Asthma patients attain greater improvements in lung function with ciclesonide, a new inhaled corticosteroid pro-drug, than with budesonide, results from a 12-week trial have shown. The multi-centre study was reported at the European Respiratory Society congress, held in Vienna, last week.

On average, patients who received a once daily treatment of ciclesonide (320µg) during the study period recorded greater improvements in their forced expiratory volume and vital capacity compared with budesonide (400µg).

Dr Dieter Ukena, from University Hospital, Homburg, Germany, whose department spearheaded the trial, explained that ciclesonide is metabolised into active drug in the lungs. As a result, it has less potential than other inhaled corticosteroids for inducing local side effects, he said. He claimed that any drug entering the bloodstream rapidly bound to plasma protein and was inactive until cleared by the liver.

A second study conducted by researchers from Imperial College, London, revealed no significant changes in urinary cortisol levels in asthma patients receiving ciclesonide for 12 weeks, with some suppression of cortisol in budesonide treated patients.