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Reynold A Panettieri Jr,1 Carlos A Camargo Jr,2 Tariq Cheema,3 Sherif G El Bayadi,4 Stanley Fiel,5 Tania M Vila,6 Renu G Jain,6 Dawn Midwinter,7 Byron Thomashow,8 Andrea Ludwig-Sengpiel,9 David A Lipson10,11 1Child Health Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers University School of Medicine, New Brunswick, NJ, USA; 2Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; 3Breathing Disorder Center, Allegheny Health Network, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; 4Department of Medicine, St. Joseph’s Health/SUNY Upstate, Syracuse, NY, USA; 5Atlantic Health Systems/Morristown Medical Center, Morristown, NJ, 07960, USA; 6GSK, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA; 7GSK, Brentford, UK; 8Department of Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA; 9KLB Gesundheitsforschung Lübeck GmbH, Lübeck, Germany; 10Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; 11GSK, Collegeville, PA, USACorrespondence: Reynold A Panettieri Jr, Rutgers University School of Medicine, 89 French Street, Suite 4210, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA, Tel +1 732-235-6404, Email rp856@rbhs.rutgers.eduBackground: In the FULFIL trial, once-daily single-inhaler triple therapy with fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium/vilanterol (FF/UMEC/VI) resulted in reduced moderate/severe exacerbation rates and conferred significant improvements in lung function and health status in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) versus twice-daily budesonide/formoterol (BUD/FOR) dual therapy.Methods: FULFIL was a Phase III, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, parallel-group study. Patients ≥ 40 years of age with symptomatic COPD were randomized 1:1 to FF/UMEC/VI 100/62.5/25 mcg or BUD/FOR 400/12 mcg. In this post hoc analysis, patients were categorized by exacerbation history in the year prior to study entry (≥ 1 moderate/severe exacerbation [recent exacerbation] versus no recent exacerbation). Endpoints included annual rate of on-treatment moderate/severe exacerbations up to Week 24, annual rate of on-treatment severe exacerbations up to Week 24, change from baseline in trough forced expiratory volume in 1 second at Week 24, and change from baseline in health status as measured by St George’s respiratory questionnaire total score at Week 24.Results: Of the 1810 patients in the intent-to-treat population, 1180 (65%) had one or more moderate/severe exacerbation in the year prior to entry, while 630 (35%) patients did not. FF/UMEC/VI versus BUD/FOR significantly reduced moderate/severe exacerbation rates in the recent exacerbation subgroup (mean annualized rate: 0.19 vs 0.29; rate ratio [95% confidence interval [CI]]: 0.64: [0.45, 0.91]; p=0.014) and numerically reduced moderate/severe exacerbation rates in the no recent exacerbation subgroup (mean annualized rate: 0.29 vs 0.43; rate ratio [95% CI]: 0.67 [0.43, 1.04]; p=0.073). Severe exacerbation rates were numerically reduced with FF/UMEC/VI versus BUD/FOR treatment across both subgroups. FF/UMEC/VI conferred significant improvements in lung function and health status versus BUD/FOR, regardless of recent exacerbation history.Conclusion: FF/UMEC/VI reduced moderate/severe and severe exacerbation rates and improved lung function and health status versus BUD/FOR in patients with symptomatic COPD, regardless of recent exacerbation history.Keywords: COPD, exacerbations, severe exacerbations, triple therapy, ICS/LABA

Donald A Mahler,1,2 Andrea Ludwig-Sengpiel,3 Gary T Ferguson,4 Alberto de la Hoz,5 John Ritz,6 Asif Shaikh,7 Henrik Watz8 1Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA; 2Section of Pulmonary Medicine, Valley Regional Hospital, Claremont, NH, USA; 3KLB Gesundheitsforschung Lübeck GmbH, Lübeck, Germany; 4Department of Medicine, Pulmonary Research Institute of Southeast Michigan, Farmington Hills, MI, USA; 5Cardio-Metabolism and Respiratory, Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany; 6Biostatistics, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Ridgefield, CT, USA; 7Clinical Development & Medical Affairs, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Ridgefield, CT, USA; 8Pulmonary Research Institute at LungenClinic Grosshansdorf, Airway Research Center North (ARCN), German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Grosshansdorf, GermanyCorrespondence: Donald A MahlerMedicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USATel +1 603 542-6777Fax +1 603 543-5613Email mahlerdonald@gmail.comBackground: Inhaled bronchodilator therapy is currently the mainstay of treatment for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Some inhalers require patients to achieve certain inhalation efforts either to activate the device or to deliver medication to the site of action. For dry powder inhalers, low peak inspiratory flow (PIF) can result in poor medication delivery but the clinical significance of this is not well understood.Methods: TRONARTO was a 4-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter, parallel-group study which stratified patients with moderate-to-severe COPD according to their PIF against medium-low resistance at screening. Patients were randomized to receive tiotropium/olodaterol (5 μg/5 μg) or matched placebo delivered via the Respimat® Soft Mist™ inhaler (SMI). After 4 weeks of treatment, we assessed change from baseline in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) area under the curve 0– 3 hours (FEV1 AUC0– 3h) and trough FEV1.Results: Overall, 213 patients were randomized, of whom 106 received tiotropium/olodaterol (PIF < 60 L/min, 55; PIF ≥ 60 L/min, 51) and 107 received placebo (PIF < 60 L/min, 55; PIF ≥ 60 L/min, 52). For FEV1 AUC0– 3h, the adjusted mean change from baseline versus placebo was 336 mL (95% confidence interval [CI] 246– 425 mL; P< 0.0001) in the PIF < 60 L/min group and 321 mL (95% CI 233– 409 mL; P< 0.0001) in the PIF ≥ 60 L/min group. For trough FEV1, the adjusted mean change from baseline versus placebo was 201 mL (95% CI 117– 286 mL; P< 0.0001) in the PIF < 60 L/min group and 217 mL (95% CI 135– 299 mL; P< 0.0001) in the PIF ≥ 60 L/min group.Conclusion: In the TRONARTO study, which included patients with moderate-to-severe COPD and varying inspiratory flow abilities, treatment with tiotropium/olodaterol resulted in significant lung function improvements versus placebo. This SMI can be used irrespective of the PIF that a patient can generate.Keywords: inhaler, tiotropium/olodaterol, peak inspiratory flow, SMI, lung function