U.S. FDA warns about asthma drugs Serevent, Foradil

William Atkins
Saturday, 13 December 2008 01:04

Science - Health

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned on Thursday, December 11, 2008, that the risks of the two prescription drugs Serevent and Foradil outweigh their benefits. However, the FDA considers the asthma drugs Advair and Symbicort safer to use.


The company GlaxoSmithKine marketed and manufactured salmeterol in the 1980s, and released it as Serevent in 1990. Currently, it is licensed from the U.K. company Allen & Hanburys.

Formoterol (sometimes called eformoterol) is marketed in four forms: (1) a dry-powder inhaler, (2) a metered dose inhaler, (3) an oral tablet, and (4) an inhalation solution.

Its trade names include Foradil or Foradile (by the company Novartis), along with Atock (company Astellas), Oxis (company AstraZeneca), and Performomist (company Dey).

Symbicort is made by AstraZeneca, and Advair is made by GlaxoSmithKline.

According to the December 11, 2008 Reuter’s article “UPDATE 3-US FDA panel: Two asthma drugs risky but Advair OK,” “GlaxoSmithKline Plc's … widely prescribed drug Advair is safe enough for treating asthma but two lesser-used medicines are too risky, a U.S. advisory panel ruled on Thursday….”

It adds, “Evidence of asthma-related deaths and serious complications led the panel of experts to warn against continued use of Glaxo's Serevent and Novartis AG's … Foradil for adults, adolescents and children with asthma.”

However, FDA officials recommend that patients should not stop taking their asthma medications without first consulting their family doctor.

Page two talks about the steroid not added to Serevent and Foradil, but contained in Advair and Symbicort.