Vol.60 No.5 September 2012
Administration setting and status of inhalation of the long-acting neuraminidase inhibitor laninamivir octanoate hydrate in post-marketing surveillance
1)Kashiwagi Clinic
2)Post Marketing Studies Management Department, Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd., 3-5-1 Nihonbashi honcho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
3)Clinical Data and Biostatistics Department, Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd.
Abstract
Laninamivir octanoate hydrate (laninamivir) is an anti-influenza medication that only requires a single administration. This drug is easy to use and should improve treatment compliance. However, it is crucial that patients completely inhale the drug in accordance with the instructions provided by doctors or pharmacists. As part of the post-marketing surveillance for laninamivir, we investigated the administration setting and status of inhalation in 3,524 patients ranging from 2 to 94 years in age. Laninamivir was most commonly inhaled in hospital settings (39.9%), followed by at home (33.1%) and at a pharmacy (26.4%). "Successful inhalation" or "Fairly satisfactory inhalation" was reported by 98.7% of the patient population, indicating a favorable status of laninamivir inhalation overall. "Successful inhalation" was reported by 93.8% of the patients who inhaled the drug at a hospital, by 86.8% among those who inhaled the drug at a pharmacy, and by 81.9% among those who inhaled the drug at home. "Unsatisfactory inhalation" or "Inhalation failure" was reported by a large percentage of pediatric patients under 5 years old (16.7% of 3-year-old patients, 8.8% of 4-year-old patients, and 4.9% of 5-year-old patients). The clinical efficacy of laninamivir was rated by the attending doctors as "effective" for as many as 98.0% of the patients who achieved "Successful inhalation" and 92.4% of those who achieved "Fairly satisfactory inhalation". Thus, laninamivir was successfully inhaled by most of the patients who underwent treatment in clinical settings and was associated with a high clinical efficacy rate. Therefore, laninamivir was confirmed to be a useful anti-influenza medication with respect to its convenience of use and the improvement of compliance. Patients should ideally inhale laninamivir at a hospital or pharmacy under the supervision of a doctor or pharmacist because the efficacy of laninamivir is correlated with the inhalation success and the inhalation status was better at the hospitals and pharmacies than at home. Laninamivir might be more effective among pediatric patients, especially for those who are 5 years of age or younger, if a detailed explanation is provided on how to use the inhaler.
Key word
long-acting neuraminidase inhibitor, laninamivir, inhalation status, postmarketing surveillance
Received
March 19, 2012
Accepted
July 18, 2012
Jpn. J. Chemother. 60 (5): 573-579, 2012
