SoylentNews

Open4D [soylentnews.org] writes:

NOTE TO EDITORS: I SUBMITTED THIS 10 MINUTES AGO, BUT HERE'S A VERSION WITH A MINOR PUNCTUATION CORRECTION.

The Telegraph reports: First new asthma pill in 20 years hailed as ‘wonder drug’ by sufferers [telegraph.co.uk]

The new drug, called Fevipiprant, works by stopping inflammatory cells getting into the airways while also repairing damage to prevent attacks. It is likely to halve the number of severe attacks, and potentially save hundreds of lives each year. Asthma charities said the new medication showed ‘massive promise,’ while sufferers trailing the drug said it had changed their lives.

“A unique feature of this study was how it included measurements of symptoms, lung function using breathing tests, sampling of the airway wall, and CT scans of the chest to give a complete picture of how the new drug works,” said Professor Christopher Brightling, Clinical Professor in Respiratory Medicine at the University of Leicester. “Most treatments might improve some of these features of disease, but with Fevipiprant improvements were seen with all of the types of tests"

[...]

The drug, which is produced by the pharmaceutical company Novaratis, is now in phase three trials. Dr Samantha Walker, Director of Research and Policy at Asthma UK [asthma.org.uk], said: “This research shows massive promise and should be greeted with cautious optimism. “More research is needed and we’re a long way off seeing a pill for asthma being made available over the pharmacy counter, but it’s an exciting development and one which, in the long term, could offer a real alternative to current treatments.”

But in an additional quote reported in the Guardian [theguardian.com], Brightling seems to indicate more optimism than Walker for a quick turnaround: 'If further trials confirm the drug’s potential, it could become available to patients on prescription from a doctor in "more than two but less than three years’ time"'. If you want to get an idea of significance of a 'phase three trial', the NHS has an overview of phases one to four [www.nhs.uk].

Original Submission