Asthma groups at odds over new drug

By MARTIN JOHNSTON

Two leading asthma support groups have clashed over claims about the safety of a new asthma drug.

Pharmac, the Government's drugs buyer, proposes to subsidise the inhaled steroid drug Beclazone from October 1.

It will be supplied by AirFlow Products, a subsidiary of the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation.

But Asthma New Zealand has attacked Beclazone as a "cheap and nasty drug".

Beclazone contains CFCs and beclomethasone, the same active component used in some other inhaled asthma drugs, including Becotide and Becloforte, used by 30,000 New Zealand asthmatics.

Maker GlaxoSmithKline is withdrawing these two Pharmac-subsidised drugs because they contain CFCs.

It is urging patients to ask their doctors about switching to another of its inhaled steroids, Flixotide, which is is CFC-free and used by more than 100,000 people. It is also subsidised.

Pharmac said in April that a CFC-free drug supplied by AirFlow would be available by October, subject to registration by the Health Ministry.

It is not now expected to be registered until next year, and Pharmac has proposed subsidising Beclazone in the meantime.

Asthma New Zealand executive director Gerry Hanna said yesterday that Beclazone was "cheap and nasty". Beclomethasone was an older-style drug that was less effective than Flixotide in controlling severe asthma and that carried a greater risk of side-effects in children.

Asthma Foundation medical director Professor Ian Town agreed regarding children and severe cases, but he said beclomethasone was effective for mild to moderate asthma.

Pharmac medical director Dr Peter Moodie said its advice was that all versions of beclomethasone and other inhaled cortico-steroids were the same or similar and safe if used in the correct doses.

nzherald.co.nz/health