Triple inhaled therapy for asthma in Canada

A significant number of patients with asthma have poor control on their current inhaled therapies, typically a combination of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and long-acting beta-2 adrenergic bronchodilators (LABA). Adding a long-acting antimuscarinic agent (LAMA) has been shown to improve asthma control and the availability of triple therapy formulations (ICS/LABA/LAMA) in a single inhaler device or single inhaler triple therapy (SITT) mitigates the adherence concerns associated with use of multiple inhaler devices. Here, we provide an overview of the pivotal data concerning the use of triple asthma therapy in patients with poor control on ICS-LABA treatment, and present our expert approach to their application in the routine clinical management of such patients as well the appropriate sequencing of initiating triple therapy and seeking a referral for consideration of more advanced therapies.