A Preference Study of Two Placebo Dry Powder Inhalers in Adults with COPD: ELLIPTA® Dry Powder Inhaler (DPI) versus DISKUS® DPI

Patients' preference is an important factor in selecting an inhaler treatment for COPD. The DISKUS® dry powder inhaler (DPI), which has been available to deliver several COPD medications for a decade, and the ELLIPTA® DPI, developed for the delivery of newer once-daily medications for patients with COPD, were studied in terms of patient preference and inhaler-specific attributes. We conducted a randomized, open-label, crossover study in patients with COPD. Patients used placebo ELLIPTA DPI once daily and placebo DISKUS DPI twice daily, for ∼1 week each, while continuing their COPD medications. Endpoints were: inhaler preference based on size of the numbers on the dose-counter (primary); the number of steps needed and inhaler size (secondary); and based on comfort of the mouthpiece, ease of opening, overall preference, and dosing regimen preference ('other'). Safety assessments included adverse events (AEs). A total of 287 patients were randomized. A significantly (p < 0.001) larger proportion of patients preferred the ELLIPTA DPI over DISKUS DPI for each of the tested attributes and overall, and preferred once-daily over twice-daily dosing. AEs were reported for 36 patients (13%); one (dry mouth) was considered to be related to the placebo-containing DISKUS DPI. Three patients had five non-fatal serious AEs, none were deemed inhaler-related. This study demonstrated that more patients with COPD preferred five specific inhaler attributes of the ELLIPTA DPI over DISKUS DPI and overall, and preferred once-daily versus twice-daily dosing. Safety profiles were consistent with those expected for COPD.