GSK Singapore announced that the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has approved a new indication and a new strength for Trelegy Ellipta (fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium/vilanterol 'FF/UMEC/VI') for the maintenance treatment of asthma in patients aged 18 years and older who are not adequately controlled with a combination of a long-acting beta2-agonist (LABA) and an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)¹. This adds to its current license for use in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and makes Trelegy Ellipta the first once-daily single inhaler triple therapy approved for use in both asthma and COPD in Singapore.

This approval is based on the CAPTAIN study which has shown that in patients uncontrolled on ICS/LABA, the additional bronchodilation provided by Trelegy had demonstrated significant improvements in lung function compared with fluticasone furoate/vilanterol (FF/VI), in a single daily dose in an easy-to-use inhaler².

With the new approval, the available HSA-approved strength for either COPD or asthma is fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium/vilanterol 100/62.5/25mcg, and an additional dosage strength newly approved for asthma at fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium/vilanterol 200/62.5/25mcg.

Dr Stephanie Ambrose, Country Medical Director, GSK Singapore, said "There are over 200,000 adults living with asthma in Singapore^3,4. Among them roughly 25% are treated with ICS/LABA, and within this group, almost 60% – which amounts to about 35,000 adults – still experience partly-controlled or uncontrolled symptoms^5,6. With this latest approval, we are pleased to share that this group of adults will potentially benefit from Trelegy and can look forward to having better control over their symptoms."

In Singapore, the asthma mortality rate is three times higher than other developed countries such as New Zealand and the United States of America⁷. This could be attributed to several factors such as low adherence rates to daily medications, poor patient perception of asthma control, misuse of reliever medication and unoptimized treatment.

Locally, it was reported that 25.6% of patients with severe asthma had an emergency hospital visit in the past year⁸. This clinical burden translates into a substantial economic burden, both in terms of direct costs to the healthcare system and wider societal costs. In 2020, the economic burden of asthma in Singapore was estimated at SGD 1.74 billion (including both direct medical costs and productivity loss); 87% of this cost was attributed to patients with uncontrolled or partly-controlled asthma⁹.

Dr Ambrose added "People with uncontrolled asthma tend to adapt their lives around their symptoms. This takes a toll on their mental wellbeing as they are often wary of activities that may cause a worsening of their symptoms and result in dreaded trips to the emergency room. As such, new treatment options to empower people living with asthma with more control are crucial in giving them a better quality of life."