Teva UK launches new GoResp Digihaler system in the UK

Teva UK has launched GoResp Digihaler (budesonide / formoterol fumarate dihydrate) in the UK – the first country in Europe to make the new inhaler system available.

The inhaler system helps patients with asthma and COPD view and monitor their inhaler use and share reports with their healthcare professional.

The GoResp Digihaler is the first integrated inhaler device with built-in sensors that detect and record objective data on a patient’s use and ability to use their inhaler, including expiratory flow classification. The inhaler is manufactured and developed by Teva in Waterford, Ireland.

Equipped with Bluetooth, the data collected by the inhaler is shown on a connected companion patient app and can be shared via online healthcare professional dashboards, via email or face-to-face during appointments. The companion app displays information on how well they are taking their medication based on an assessment of their expiratory flow rate, ie good, fair, low/no breathlessness. It is important to observe and monitor treatment frequency and technique, as data suggests that asthma patients tend to increase their use of actual inhalers to eight inhalations per week. The app also has the facility to remind the patients when they need to take the medicine.

Announcing the news, Kim Innes, General Manager of Teva UK and Ireland, said: “Teva UK is excited to launch GoResp Digihaler in the UK. Observing and monitoring inhaler technique and use can provide important insights that will aid patients and health care professionals in the appropriate management of patients with asthma and COPD and is an important step. This is a major milestone for us as it expands our growing, innovative, respiratory portfolio as we move forward on our mission to improve patients’ lives.

Around 5.4 million people in the UK suffer from asthma and 3 million with COPD, both conditions causing high levels of hospitalization and death. It is estimated that asthma patients account for over 6 million primary care consultations and 93,000 hospital admissions per year in the UK, while COPD results in approximately 130,000 admissions per year. Despite decades of treatment innovation in asthma, poor inhaler technique and erratic adherence contribute to poor control of the condition, with a large proportion of patients using their inhalers incorrectly. It is not surprising that approximately 2.5 million patients with asthma live with their condition uncontrolled.