Triple-agent fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium/vilanterol (FF/UMEC/VI) treatment was more effective at achieving and maintaining disease stability in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) than double-agent options FF/VI or UMEC/VI, according to new research presented at the American Thoracic Society 2025 International Conference.
“Achieving disease stability in patients with COPD is emerging as an important treatment target.
Disease stability may be assessed as a composite measure or using individual components, including exacerbations, health status, and lung function,” wrote the authors, led by Meilan King Han, MD,of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
They conducted a post-hoc analysis of data from the IMPACT trial, a phase III, 52-week, randomized, double-blind, multicenter trial comparing once-daily FF/UMEC/VI (n = 4,151) versus FF/VI (n = 4,134) or UMEC/VI (n = 2,070). Participants were patients aged older than or 40 years of age who had symptomatic COPD and were at risk for exacerbation. The researchers defined disease stability as no moderate or severe exacerbation, no more than a 100 mL decline from baseline FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in one second), and no significant decline in scores on either the St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) or the COPD Assessment Test (CAT).
On the SGRQ, at week 52, more patients receiving FF/UMEC/VI achieved disease stability (26%) than those receiving FF/VI (17%) or UMEC/VI (19%). Similar results occurred with the CAT: 23% versus 15% and 17%, respectively. According to the SGRQ, patients receiving the triple therapy maintained disease stability for a median of 120 days versus 36 days with FF/VI and 79 days with UMEC/VI. Finally, according to the CAT, disease stability lasted 110 days versus 31 days and 36 days, respectively.
“These findings provide further support for disease stability as a practical treatment target for patients with COPD, with further evidence needed to define optimum thresholds for each component,” the authors concluded.
Reference
American Thoracic Society International Conference. Abstract #A1015. https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1164/ajrccm.2025.211.Abstracts.A1015.
