Patient considerations in the treatment of COPD: focus on the new combination inhaler umeclidinium/vilanterol

Timothy E Albertson,1–3 Richart Harper,1,2 Susan Murin,1,2 Christian Sandrock1 1Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA; 2Department of Medicine, Veterans Administration Northern California Health Care System, Mather, CA, USA; 3Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA Abstract: Medication adherence among patients with chronic diseases, such as COPD, may be suboptimal, and many factors contribute to this poor adherence. One major factor is the frequency of medication dosing. Once-daily dosing has been shown to be an important variable in medication adherence in chronic diseases, such as COPD. New inhalers that only require once-daily dosing are becoming more widely available. Combination once-daily inhalers that combine any two of the following three agents are now available: 1) a long-acting muscarinic antagonist; 2) a long acting beta2 agonist; and 3) an inhaled corticosteroid. A new once-daily inhaler with both a long-acting muscarinic antagonist, umeclidinium bromide, and a long acting beta2 agonist, vilanterol trifenatate, is now available worldwide for COPD treatment. It provides COPD patients convenience, efficacy, and a very favorable adverse-effects profile. Additional once-daily combination inhalers are available or will soon be available for COPD patients worldwide. The use of once-daily combination inhalers will likely become the standard maintenance management approach in the treatment of COPD because they improve medication adherence. Keywords: medication adherence, long-acting beta2 agonist, long-acting muscarinic antagonist, inhaled corticosteroid, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease