AstraZeneca said it will expand its Young Health Programme, bringing its cumulative commitment to youth health equity to more than $100 million, as the European Commission approved its Trixeo Aerosphere inhaler for maintenance treatment of asthma in patients aged 12 years and older.
The new five-year phase of the Young Health Programme will run through 2030 and is being delivered with UNICEF, Plan International, One Young World and more than 60 nongovernmental organizations. AstraZeneca said the program aims to reach an additional 10 million young people, train 800,000 youth advocates and help shape 17 public policies globally.
The initiative focuses on prevention of noncommunicable diseases, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease and lung disease, and on health effects associated with climate change. Since its launch in 2010, the program has directly reached 23 million young people in more than 60 countries, trained more than 1 million people and supported youth advocates in shaping 29 laws and policies, AstraZeneca said.
Separately, the European Commission approved Trixeo Aerosphere, a fixed-dose combination of budesonide, glycopyrronium and formoterol fumarate dihydrate, for asthma maintenance treatment in people aged 12 and older who are not adequately controlled on a medium-dose inhaled corticosteroid and long-acting beta2-agonist.
The single inhaler combines an inhaled corticosteroid, a long-acting muscarinic antagonist and a long-acting beta2-agonist. The approval followed positive Phase 3 KALOS and LOGOS results involving about 4,300 randomized patients.
In pooled analyses, Trixeo improved lung function and reduced the annualized rate of severe asthma exacerbations compared with inhaled corticosteroid and long-acting beta2-agonist combinations. AstraZeneca said no new safety or tolerability signals were identified. Trixeo is a maintenance therapy and is not intended to relieve sudden breathing problems or replace a rescue inhaler.
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