Impact of baseline clinical features on outcomes of nebulized glycopyrrolate therapy in COPD

Inhaled bronchodilators are central for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), as they can provide symptom relief and reduce the frequency and severity of exacerbations while improving health status and exercise tolerance. In 2017, glycopyrrolate (GLY) delivered via the eFlow® closed system (CS) nebulizer (nebulized GLY; 25 µg twice daily), was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for maintenance treatment of moderate-to-very-severe COPD. This approval was based largely on results from the replicate, placebo-controlled, Phase III clinical trials- GOLDEN 3 and 4. In this review, we summarize key findings from secondary analyses of the GOLDEN 3 and 4 studies, and provide a comprehensive overview that may assist both pulmonologists and primary-care providers in their treatment decisions. Comorbidities are common among patients with COPD in clinical practice and may impact bronchodilator efficacy. This review highlights outcomes among subpopulations of patients with comorbidities (e.g., anxiety/depression, cardiovascular disease), and their impact on the efficacy of nebulized GLY. In addition, the efficacy and safety of nebulized GLY across various demographics (e.g., age, gender) and baseline disease characteristics (e.g., disease severity, rescue medication use) are discussed. Real-world outcomes with nebulized GLY, including device satisfaction, healthcare resource utilization, and exacerbations, are also presented. These secondary analyses and real-world data complement the primary results with nebulized GLY from Phase III studies and support the need for the inclusion of patients representative of real-world clinical practice in RCTs. In addition, these data suggest that RCTs for COPD therapies should be complemented with real-world observational studies.