Efficacy and safety of combining olodaterol Respimat(®) and tiotropium HandiHaler(®) in patients with COPD: results of two randomized, double-blind, active-controlled studies

BACKGROUND: Combining bronchodilators with different mechanisms of action may improve efficacy and reduce risk of side effects compared to increasing the dose of a single agent in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We investigated this by combining two long-acting bronchodilators: once-daily muscarinic antagonist tiotropium and once-daily β(2)-agonist olodaterol. METHODS: Two replicate, double-blind, randomized, 12-week studies (ANHELTO 1 [NCT01694771] and ANHELTO 2 [NCT01696058]) evaluated the efficacy and safety of olodaterol 5 μg once daily (via Respimat(®)) combined with tiotropium 18 μg once daily (via HandiHaler(®)) versus tiotropium 18 μg once daily (via HandiHaler(®)) combined with placebo (via Respimat(®)) in patients with moderate to severe COPD. Primary efficacy end points were area under the curve from 0–3 hours of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1) AUC(0–3)) and trough FEV(1) after 12 weeks (for the individual trials). A key secondary end point was health status by St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) total score (combined data set). RESULTS: Olodaterol + tiotropium resulted in significant improvements over tiotropium + placebo in FEV(1) AUC(0–3) (treatment differences: 0.117 L [P<0.001], ANHELTO 1; 0.106 L [P<0.001], ANHELTO 2) and trough FEV(1) (treatment differences: 0.062 L [P<0.001], ANHELTO 1; 0.040 L [P=0.0029], ANHELTO 2); these were supported by secondary end points. These effects translated to improvements in SGRQ total scores (treatment difference −1.85; P<0.0001). The tolerability profile of olodaterol + tiotropium was similar to tiotropium monotherapy. CONCLUSION: These studies demonstrated that olodaterol (Respimat(®)) and tiotropium (HandiHaler(®)) provided bronchodilatory effects above tiotropium alone in patients with COPD. In general, both treatments were well tolerated.