New Asthma Medication on the Market

Keep An Eye Out for New Asthma Medication on the Market...Like These...

Big pharmaceutical companies are constantly looking for new, better asthma medications to introduce to the market. Some of companies look for new substances (or combinations of existing medications), while others concentrate on finding better ways to deliver medicines to the areas that will give the most relief. We'll take closer look at both, since each of the ways has advantages for the patient.
 
Remember that introducing a new asthma medication on the market is not an easy task. The entire process can take years from inventing a new asthma medication to finally brining it to market. Large pharmaceutical companies often concentrate on designing new preventers, because they are more important in controlling asthma than short-action relievers (also called rescue agents). Long-term control agents are now routinely used to control symptoms and to modify the inflammatory process (these agents include long-acting beta-agonists, leukotriene inhibitors, and corticosteroid).

New asthma medication on the market

One of the biggest advances in asthma rescue therapy was the introduction of these new asthma medications: Levarbuterol and Salmeterol.

Levarbuterol is the short-action rescue drug.

Salmeterol is a long-acting agent, with a reaction time between 15 and 30 minutes.  Therefore it is completely inadequate for emergency relief, but very useful in longer term treatment.

Another new asthma medication on the market is Formoterol.  Formoterol is available as a dry-powder capsule for inhalation. Unlike Levarbuterol formoterol has a shorter reaction time and therefore can be used also as rescue-action medication in preventing exercise-induced asthma attacks.

As for inhaled corticosteroids, many are available, but one of the new asthma medications on the market is Budesonide, specifically designed for maintenance therapy.

New asthma medication on the market - delivery devices

Delivery devices now include:

Metered-dose inhalers (MDIs)

Breath-actuated inhalers

Nebulizers

Dry-powder inhalers.

MDIs are the classical inhalers, but they're still the most popular - they are easy to use, portable, and efficient. They consist of a pressurized (with CFC or more often hydrofluoroalkane [HFA]) canister with a valve that dispenses a measured amount of asthma medication when pressed. For those patients who cannot accurately synchronize their inhaling, there are inhalers activated by inhaling.
 
Newer devices are called nebulizers and are based on jet or ultrasonic action to create aerosol from a liquid drug. The main disadvantage of nebulizers are size - they're less handy than even the biggest MDIs, since they consist of a medicine container and a mouthpiece or mask.

The new, state-of-the-art asthma medication delivery system on the market is using dry, micronized powders inhalers. Some of them are one-use devices with the medication container replaceable after each use.  

Others are compact, self-contained devices. These devices are compact, portable and breath activated. The drawback is that they require enough breath flow for proper function.  Patients with a severe attack may not have the breathing capacity to use them.

That's a look at the new asthma medication on the market... and certianly there will soon be more.

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New asthma medications on the market