LABA advisory committee (again)

The safety of long-acting beta-2 agonists like GlaxoSmithKline's Serevent Diskus (salmeterol) and Novartis' Foradil (formoterol), as well as affected combination products such as GSK's Advair (fluticasone/salmeterol) and AstraZeneca's Symbicort (budesonide/formoterol fumarate), will be discussed at a two-day joint meeting of FDA's Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs, Drug Safety and Risk Management, and Pediatric Advisory Committees Dec. 10-11. This will be the third committee review of the class, continuing FDA's inquiry into the benefits and risks of the LABA class for treatment of asthma in adults and children in light of an observed increased risk of asthma-related deaths