Adjustable maintenance dosing with budesonide/formoterol (Symbicort®) reduces treatment costs in asthma

Summary Adjustable maintenance dosing permits patients to increase or decrease their medication, according to a management plan, in response to daily variations in asthma. Adjustable maintenance dosing with budesonide/formoterol in a single inhaler was compared with fixed dosing bid in eight randomised, open-label studies. Data on resource utilisation were collected prospectively in six of the studies. Duration of randomised treatment was 3 months (UK, Italy, Germany), 4 months (Belgium), 5 months (Canada) or 6 months (Sweden). Mean number of budesonide/formoterol inhalations/day was significantly lower for adjustable maintenance dosing vs. fixed dosing, which resulted in significantly lower drug and total costs with adjustable maintenance dosing vs. fixed-dosing group. In the 3- and 4-month studies, both regimens had similar effectiveness. In the Canadian and Swedish studies, a significantly lower percentage of adjustable maintenance dosing patients had asthma exacerbations compared with fixed dosing. Adjustable maintenance dosing reduced treatment costs, providing similar or better asthma control at a lower overall dose, compared with fixed dosing.