Efficacy and safety of intramuscular administration of tixagevimab-cilgavimab for early outpatient treatment of COVID-19 (TACKLE): a phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Early intramuscular administration of SARS-CoV-2-neutralising monoclonal antibody combination, tixagevimab-cilgavimab, to non-hospitalised adults with mild to moderate COVID-19 has potential to prevent disease progression. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of tixagevimab-cilgavimab in preventing progression to severe COVID-19 or death.

Methods: TACKLE is an ongoing, phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study conducted at 95 sites in the USA, Latin America, Europe, and Japan.

Positioning As-needed Budesonide-Formoterol for Mild Asthma: Effect of Prestudy Treatment in Pooled Analysis of SYGMA 1 and 2.

The SYGMA (Symbicort Given as Needed in Mild Asthma) studies evaluated the efficacy and safety of as-needed budesonide (BUD)-formoterol (FORM) in patients whose asthma was uncontrolled on as-needed inhaled short-acting bronchodilators (subgroup 1) or controlled on inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) or leukotriene receptor antagonists (subgroup 2). To assess the influence of prestudy treatment in a analysis of the SYGMA studies. In the SYGMA 1 (NCT022149199) and SYGMA 2 (NCT02224157) 52-week, double-blind, randomized, parallel-group studies, 6,735 patients with mild asthma were randomized to as-needed BUD-FORM, low-dose BUD + as-needed terbutaline (BUD maintenance), or as-needed terbutaline (SYGMA 1 only).

Efficacy and Safety of As-Needed Budesonide-Formoterol in Adolescents with Mild Asthma.

Background: Medication adherence is challenging for adolescents. In mild asthma, as-needed budesonide-formoterol (BUD-FORM) reduces severe exacerbations compared with as-needed short-acting beta-agonists, similar to the reduction with maintenance budesonide.

Objective: This post hoc pooled analysis of Symbicort Given as-needed in Mild Asthma (SYGMA) 1 and 2 assessed the efficacy and safety of as-needed BUD-FORM in adolescents.

Safety of As-Needed Budesonide-Formoterol in Mild Asthma: Data from the Two Phase III SYGMA Studies.

Introduction: Budesonide-formoterol taken as needed is an emerging treatment for mild asthma.

Objective: We used data from the SYGMA studies to assess the safety of As-needed budesonide-formoterol compared with As-needed terbutaline and compared with maintenance budesonide.

Methods: SYGMA 1 and 2 were 52-week, double-blind, parallel-group studies in patients aged ≥ 12 years with physician-assessed mild asthma.

Effect of a single day of increased as-needed budesonide-formoterol use on short-term risk of severe exacerbations in patients with mild asthma: a post-hoc analysis of the SYGMA 1 study.

Background: In mild asthma, as-needed budesonide-formoterol reduces long-term exacerbation risk compared with as-needed short-acting β-agonist (SABA), with a similar or increased reduction versus maintenance with budesonide plus as-needed SABA, despite a lower budesonide dose. In this post-hoc analysis of the SYmbicort Given as needed in Mild Asthma (SYGMA) 1 study, we investigated the short-term risk of severe exacerbations after a single day with various levels of reliever use.

Methods: SYGMA 1 was a 52-week, double-blind, randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial, in which patients aged 12 years or older with mild asthma were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to placebo twice daily plus as-needed terbutaline 0·5 mg, placebo twice daily plus as-needed budesonide-formoterol 200-6 μg, or budesonide 200 μg twice daily plus as-needed terbutaline (ie, budesonide maintenance group).

Anti-inflammatory effects of roflumilast in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (ROBERT): a 16-week, randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: The clinical effects of roflumilast, a selective phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor, are well established, but little is known about the anti-inflammatory mechanisms underlying the drug's efficacy. The aim of the ROflumilast Biopsy European Research Trial (ROBERT) was to assess the anti-inflammatory effects of roflumilast on bronchial mucosal inflammation in patients with moderate-to-severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and chronic bronchitis.

Methods: ROBERT was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial done at 18 sites in five countries.

Determinants of Response to Roflumilast in Severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Pooled Analysis of Two Randomized Trials.

Rationale: Roflumilast reduces exacerbations in patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease associated with chronic bronchitis and a history of exacerbations. Further characterization of patients most likely to benefit is warranted.

Objectives: Define characteristics that most robustly identify patients who derive greatest exacerbation risk reduction with roflumilast.

Use of a 4-week up-titration regimen of roflumilast in patients with severe COPD.

Background: The oral selective phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor roflumilast (ROF) reduces exacerbations in patients with severe COPD. Adverse events (AEs) can cause early ROF discontinuation. Alternative dosing strategies may help patients continue their therapy.

Effect of Roflumilast and Inhaled Corticosteroid/Long-Acting β2-Agonist on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbations (RE(2)SPOND). A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Rationale: Moderate and severe exacerbations are incompletely prevented by maximal inhalation therapy in patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Objectives: To determine whether roflumilast reduces moderate and/or severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations in patients at risk for exacerbations despite treatment with inhaled corticosteroid/long-acting β2-agonist with or without a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA).

Methods: In this 52-week, phase 4, double-blind, placebo-controlled RE(2)SPOND (Roflumilast Effect on Exacerbations in Patients on Dual [LABA/ICS] Therapy) trial (NCT01443845), participants aged 40 years or older with severe/very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic bronchitis, two or more exacerbations and/or hospitalizations in the previous year, and receiving inhaled corticosteroid/long-acting β2-agonist with or without LAMA daily for 3 or more months were equally randomized to once-daily roflumilast, 500 μg (n = 1,178), or placebo (n = 1,176).

Efficacy and safety of once-daily QVA149 compared with twice-daily salmeterol-fluticasone in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (ILLUMINATE): a randomised, double-blind, parallel group study.

Background: QVA149 is an inhaled fixed-dose combination therapy under development for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It combines indacaterol (a longacting β2-agonist) with glycopyrronium (a longacting muscarinic antagonist) as a dual bronchodilator. We aimed to compare the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of QVA149 versus salmeterol-fluticasone (SFC) over 26 weeks in patients with moderate-to-severe COPD.

Dual bronchodilation with QVA149 reduces patient-reported dyspnoea in COPD: the BLAZE study.

We evaluated the effect of QVA149, a dual bronchodilator combining indacaterol and glycopyrronium, on direct patient-reported dyspnoea in patients with moderate-to-severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In this multicentre, blinded, double-dummy, three-period crossover study, 247 patients were randomised to once-daily QVA149 110/50 μg, placebo or tiotropium 18 μg. Superiority of QVA149 versus placebo (primary objective) and tiotropium (secondary objective) was assessed for improvement in dyspnoea via the self-administered computerised (SAC) version of the Baseline and Transition Dyspnoea Index after 6 weeks.

Efficacy and safety of QVA149 compared to the concurrent administration of its monocomponents indacaterol and glycopyrronium: the BEACON study.

Introduction: The BEACON study evaluated the efficacy and safety of QVA149, a once-daily dual bronchodilator containing a fixed-dose combination of the long-acting β2-agonist (LABA) indacaterol and long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) glycopyrronium (NVA237), in development for the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), compared with the free-dose concurrent administration of indacaterol plus glycopyrronium (IND+GLY).

Methods: In this multicenter, double-blind, parallel group study, patients with stage II or stage III COPD (Global initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease [GOLD] 2010) were randomized (1:1) to once-daily QVA149 (110 μg indacaterol/50 μg glycopyrronium) or concurrent administration of indacaterol (150 μg) and glycopyrronium (50 μg) via the Breezhaler® device (Novartis AG, Basel, Switzerland) for 4 weeks. The primary endpoint was to evaluate the noninferiority of QVA149 as compared with concurrent administration of IND+GLY, for trough forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) after 4 weeks of treatment.

Nitric oxide donors augment interleukin-1β-induced vascular endothelial growth factor in airway smooth muscle cells.

Angiogenesis and microvascular leakage are features of chronic inflammatory diseases of which molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. We investigated the effects of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) on the expression and secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and placenta growth factor (PlGF) in porcine airway smooth muscle cells (PASMC) in relation to a nitric oxide (NO) pathway. Serum-deprived (48 h) PASMC were stimulated with IL-1β alone or with NO donor, L-arginine and/or NO synthase inhibitor L-NAME for 4 and 24 h.

Angiogenesis and vascular remodeling in chronic airway diseases.

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease remain a global health problem, with increasing morbidity and mortality. Despite differences in the causal agents, both diseases exhibit various degrees of inflammatory changes, structural alterations of the airways leading to airflow limitation. The existence of transient disease phenotypes which overlap both diseases and which progressively decline the lung function has complicated the search for an effective therapy.

Safety and efficacy of dual bronchodilation with QVA149 in COPD patients: the ENLIGHTEN study.

Background: QVA149 is an inhaled, once-daily fixed-dose dual bronchodilator combination of the long-acting β2-agonist indacaterol and long-acting muscarinic antagonist glycopyrronium (NVA237) for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We investigated the safety and efficacy of QVA149 over 52 weeks.

Methods: This 52-week, multicenter, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled study randomized (2:1) patients with moderate-to-severe COPD to once-daily QVA149 (110 μg indacaterol/50 μg glycopyrronium) or placebo delivered via the Breezhaler device.

A novel model-based approach for dose determination of glycopyrronium bromide in COPD.

Background: Glycopyrronium bromide (NVA237) is an inhaled long-acting muscarinic antagonist in development for treatment of COPD. This study compared the efficacy and safety of once-daily (OD) and twice-daily (BID) glycopyrronium bromide regimens, using a novel model-based approach, in patients with moderate-to-severe COPD.

Methods: Double-blind, randomized, dose-finding trial with an eight-treatment, two-period, balanced incomplete block design.

Efficacy and safety of NVA237 versus placebo and tiotropium in patients with COPD: the GLOW2 study.

NVA237 (glycopyrronium bromide) is a once-daily long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) in development for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The GLycopyrronium bromide in COPD airWays clinical Study 2 (GLOW2) evaluated the efficacy and safety of NVA237 in moderate-to-severe COPD over 52 weeks. Patients were randomised 2:1:1 to NVA237 50 μg, placebo or open-label tiotropium 18 μg for 52 weeks.

Transforming growth factor-beta 1 induces angiogenesis in vitro via VEGF production in human airway smooth muscle cells.

Increase in size and number of bronchial blood vessels as well as hyperaemia are factors that contribute to airway wall remodelling in patients with chronic airway diseases, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD). Expression of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1), a multifunctional cytokine as well as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a key angiogenic molecule, has been shown in the inflammed airways in patients with chronic airway diseases. TGF-beta 1 has been implicated in the regulation of extracellular matrix, leading to airway remodelling in patients with chronic airway diseases.

Safety of formoterol in adults and children with asthma: a meta-analysis.

Background: The safety of long-acting β2 agonists (LABA) for the treatment of persistent asthma remains a topic of ongoing debate.

Objective: To evaluate the risk of serious asthma-related events among patients treated with formoterol, a meta-analysis of all Novartis-sponsored controlled clinical trials was conducted.

Methods: Forty-five randomized, placebo- and active-controlled, parallel-group or crossover studies with formoterol were included.

Size-optimized 32-channel brain arrays for 3 T pediatric imaging.

Size-optimized 32-channel receive array coils were developed for five age groups, neonates, 6 months old, 1 year old, 4 years old, and 7 years old, and evaluated for pediatric brain imaging. The array consisted of overlapping circular surface coils laid out on a close-fitting coil-former. The two-section coil former design was obtained from surface contours of aligned three-dimensional MRI scans of each age group.

96-Channel receive-only head coil for 3 Tesla: design optimization and evaluation.

The benefits and challenges of highly parallel array coils for head imaging were investigated through the development of a 3T receive-only phased-array head coil with 96 receive elements constructed on a close-fitting helmet-shaped former. We evaluated several designs for the coil elements and matching circuitry, with particular attention to sources of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) loss, including various sources of coil loading and coupling between the array elements. The SNR and noise amplification (g-factor) in accelerated imaging were quantitatively evaluated in phantom and human imaging and compared to a 32-channel array built on an identical helmet-shaped former and to a larger commercial 12-channel head coil.

Molecular mechanisms in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: potential targets for therapy.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory lung disease associated with progressive airflow obstruction. Tobacco smoking is the main risk factor worldwide. In contrast to asthma, antiinflammatory therapies are rather ineffective in improving chronic symptoms and reducing inflammation, lung function decline, and airway remodeling.

Vasoactive peptides upregulate mRNA expression and secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor in human airway smooth muscle cells.

Airway remodeling and associated angiogenesis are documented features of asthma, of which the molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. Angiotensin (ANG)II and endothelin (ET)-1 are potent vasoconstricting circulatory hormones implicated in asthma. We investigated the effects of ANG II and ET-1 on human airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells proliferation and growth and examined the mRNA expression and release of the angiogenic peptide, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).

Enhanced bronchial expression of extracellular matrix proteins in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Remodeling of airways and blood vessels is an important feature in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). By using immunohistochemical analysis, we examined bronchial expression patterns of various extracellular matrix (ECM) components such as collagens (subtypes I, III, and IV), fibronectin, and laminin beta2 in patients with COPD (forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1] or=85%; n = 16) and correlated expression data with lung function. Quantitative analysis revealed enhanced levels (P < .