Comparative effectiveness of indacaterol/glycopyrronium in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Indacaterol/glycopyrronium has been the first long-acting beta(2)-agonist (LABA)/long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) fixed-dose combination to be approved as a maintenance treatment in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. Comparative effectiveness studies indicate that it is constantly superior to a LAMA or a LABA alone or even a LABA/inhaled corticosteroid combination, regardless of the drugs used. However, definitive data documenting the benefit of indacaterol/glycopyrronium fixed-dose combination over these consolidated therapies are still absent in a real-world setting, although the results of pivotal randomized controlled trials show that this is the case. Therefore, in addition to the large body of evidence already available supporting the use of indacaterol/glycopyrronium, pragmatic observational studies or ad hoc designed trials should be planned to collect data that could confirm the high effectiveness of indacaterol/glycopyrronium even in the real-life clinical practice.