SMC Adopts Positive Opinion For Symbicort® Maintenance And Reliever Therapy (Symbicort SMART®)

AstraZeneca's Symbicort® (budesonide/formoterol) Maintenance And Reliever Therapy (Symbicort SMART®) has today been accepted for use in Scotland by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC). Thousands of adult asthma patients aged 18 years of age and over will now have access to the medicine, following its approval for NHS prescription in Scotland. Symbicort SMART, launched in the UK earlier this month, is the first treatment approach to allow patients uncontrolled on inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) to receive both maintenance and reliever therapy in a single inhaler. It is estimated that as many as 5.2 million people in the UK suffer from asthma - 390,000 in Scotland alone - making it one of the most common chronic diseases. With as many as 1,400 annual deaths from asthma in the UK2, 90% are preventable, and an estimated 75% of hospital admissions are avoidable.2 Poorly controlled asthma places a substantial economic burden on the NHS, with the annual cost of treating asthma estimated at £889 million.2 The SMC, which advises the NHS boards on the use of newly licensed medicines in Scotland, has advised that Symbicort SMART be accepted for use within NHS Scotland for the regular treatment of adult asthma, where the use of a combination (inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and long-acting beta-agonist (LABA)) is appropriate. Symbicort is taken as regular maintenance treatment and as needed for relief of symptoms. Patients suitable for the Symbicort SMART treatment approach would no longer require a separate short-acting bronchodilator (SABA) for the treatment of asthma symptoms. Patients should be advised to always have their Symbicort available for rescue use. Aberdeen based General Practitioner, Dr Iain Small, comments "The Symbicort SMART approach is easy to use, and offers patients the convenience of achieving control of their asthma symptoms using a single inhaler. Whilst benefiting patients, it can also benefit the NHS - a reduction in both symptoms and the number of attacks patients experience has the potential to reduce emergency admissions and unscheduled hospital visits." The SMC recommendation is based on clinical trial evidence submitted by AstraZeneca. Five double blind randomised controlled trials were conducted which support the use of Symbicort for maintenance and reliever therapy. Three of these studies included combination (ICS and LABA) maintenance treatment as comparative.4,5,6 Symbicort SMART significantly increased the time to the first severe exacerbation and the rate of exacerbations was reduced by 45% 4,5 compared with fixed dose Symbicort plus a separate short acting reliever inhaler. Compared with Seretide (salmeterol/fluticasone) at a higher maintenance steroid dose plus separate reliever, Symbicort SMART significantly prolonged the time to the first severe exacerbation and reduced the rate of hospitalisation/emergency room treatment.6 AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals and the supply of healthcare services. It is one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies with healthcare sales of $26.47 billion and leading positions in sales of gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory, oncology and infection products. AstraZeneca is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Global) as well as the FTSE4 Good Index. · Full details of the SMC recommendation can be found on the SMC website

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