Singapore: Takeda today announced the launch of a new expert report on COPD on the occasion of the 2012 European Respiratory Society (ERS) annual congress taking place from September 1-5 in Vienna, Austria.

The report, entitled 'The shifting paradigm in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) management,' was initiated and developed by Takeda Pharmaceuticals International and is a compilation of opinion articles from a panel of key international respiratory experts, the European Federation of Allergy, Airways Diseases Patients' Association (EFA) and COPD patients, reflecting updated guidance and research.

The new expert report was developed in response to a recent shift in emphasis in COPD management which now places future risk at equal importance to treatment of current disability. Treatment objectives are now divided into two groups: reducing symptoms and reducing risk.

Dr Alan Kaplan, chairperson, respiratory medicine special interest focus group, College of Family Physicians of Canada, while speaking at the launch of the new expert report, said that, "The management of stable COPD should, according to the global initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease (GOLD), be based on a combined assessment of both the current symptom burden as well as the future risk of disease progression. The new report aims to support healthcare professionals at every level within respiratory care, including GPs, nurses and consultants; providing suggestions and guidance to help them in making more informed decisions and provide enhanced care and counsel to COPD patients to improve their outcomes."

The new expert report draws on a post-hoc analysis presented at ERS 2012, which suggests that the novel anti-inflammatory agent, roflumilast, significantly reduces exacerbations when added to tiotropium in symptomatic COPD patients with moderate to severe lung function impairment and a baseline mMRC grade more than or equivalent to two (GOLD category B and D) by 45 percent.