Tokyo, Japan, December 11, 2009 - Astellas Pharma Inc. (“Astellas”; headquarters: Tokyo; President and CEO: Masafumi Nogimori) and AstraZeneca K.K. (headquarters: Tokyo; President and CEO: Masuhiro Kato) announced that Symbicort® Turbuhaler® for the treatment of adult bronchial asthma which has been granted manufacturing and marketing approval on October 16, 2009 was listed on National Health Insurance(NHI) price list in Japan today.
The NHI reimbursement price is 3,031.60 yen for Symbicort® Turbuhaler® 30 doses and 6,013.60 yen for Symbicort® Turbuhaler® 60 doses. Both companies plan to launch them on January 13, 2010.
Symbicort® Turbuhaler® is a twice-daily treatment for adult bronchial asthma combining budesonide, an inhaled corticosteroid (one dose containing 160μg) and formoterol fumarate dihydrate, a rapid and long acting β2 agonist (one dose containing 4.5μg), and the product is administered by an inhaler (Turbuhaler).
Characteristics of Symbicort® Turbuhaler® are as follows:
-The Product alone shows good efficacy in countering both of the causes of bronchial asthma, airway inflammation and airway narrowing
- By administering two medications in one product, in addition to the convenience for controlling bronchial asthma, due to the fast onset of bronchial dilation effect of formoterol, patients can easily feel the effect of the treatment. As a result, improvement in adherence (continuation of treatment) can be expected.
Symbicort® Turbuhaler® was listed as a new option for long-term maintenance treatment on “Asthma Prevention and Management Guideline 2009, Japan” which was revised in October 2009.
The guideline recommends that Symbicort® Turbuhaler® can be used for the treatment from step 2 to step 4 as the combination therapy combining an inhaled corticosteroid and a rapid and long-acting β2 agonist.
Symbicort® Turbuhaler® was first approved in Europe in 2000, and is now approved in more than 100 countries and regions.
