About 27 million Americans have asthma, of which 30% to 50% have frequent symptoms that can result in emergency visits, work absences, and disrupted daily routines.
Common symptoms of asthma, which are caused by lung inflammation and tightened airway muscles, include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath.
The three medicines in Trimbow work together to help prevent and control asthma symptoms. Beclomethasone is an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) that decreases lung inflammation. Formoterol, a long-acting beta-agonist (LABA), and glycopyrrolate, an anticholinergic, both work by relaxing airway muscles.
Why Was It Approved?
The FDA based its approval on findings from two placebo-controlled clinical studies that included more than 2,200 adults with poorly controlled asthma. Both studies compared Trimbow to an inhaler containing beclomethasone and formoterol, but not glycopyrrolate. Within about four weeks, people using Trimbow had better lung function measures than those using the two-medication product. Lung function was measured for 26 weeks, and these improvements were maintained during that time. The safety profile of Trimbow was similar to that of the two-medicine inhaler, and side effects were generally uncommon. The side effects that occurred in at least 1% of people included respiratory or sinus infections, high blood pressure, back pain, hoarseness, throat pain, low red blood cells, and muscle spasms.
What Do I Need to Know?
Trimbow is a pressurized metered-dose inhaler taken as two puffs twice each day, once in the morning and once in the evening. If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember, but do not use more than two puffs twice daily. After each use, rinse your mouth with water and spit it out to help prevent a fungal infection known as oral thrush. You should clean the mouthpiece every seven days with a clean, dry, lint-free cloth. Trimbow does not relieve sudden breathing problems and will not take the place of your rescue inhaler. Keep a rescue inhaler, such as albuterol, available at all times. Contact your health care provider or seek medical help right away if your breathing worsens, you need your rescue inhaler more often than usual, or it does not relieve your symptoms as well as before.
