1. High Doses of Vitamin D Provide No Benefit to Patients with Severe COPD Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the top 10 leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Vitamin D deficiency is present in 60 percent to 75 percent of patients with severe COPD…
The Novartis investigational bronchodilator QAB149 (indacaterol) met the primary efficacy endpoints of improved lung function compared to placebo at 12 weeks in three pivotal phase III studies in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. In secondary endpoints of these studies, QAB149 demonstrated clinically relevant lung function improvements within five minutes of the first dose, lasting for 24 hours in COPD patients.