Comparative Effectiveness of Fluticasone Furoate/Umeclidinium/Vilanterol and Budesonide/Glycopyrrolate/Formoterol Fumarate among US Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with exacerbations which can reduce quality of life and increase mortality. Single-inhaler triple therapy (SITT) is recommended for maintenance treatment of COPD among patients experiencing exacerbations despite dual-therapy use. This real-world comparative effectiveness study compared the impact of SITTs, fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium/vilanterol (FF/UMEC/VI), and budesonide/glycopyrrolate/formoterol fumarate (BUD/GLY/FORM), on COPD exacerbations and mortality.

Methods: Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) patients with COPD initiated on FF/UMEC/VI or BUD/GLY/FORM were identified from the Komodo Research healthcare claims dataset (01/01/2016-12/31/2023). Overlap weighting based on high-dimensional propensity scores evaluated from patient characteristics was used to adjust for baseline confounding. Primary outcome was annualized rate of moderate-severe COPD exacerbations (per patient-year; PPY) compared using rate ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) from weighted Poisson regression models. Secondary and exploratory outcomes were risk of moderate-severe COPD exacerbations and all-cause mortality, respectively, evaluated using Kaplan-Meier analysis and hazard ratios (HR) with 95% CIs from Cox proportional hazard models. A secondary analysis was conducted among a mutually exclusive population with Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, or commercial insurance.

Results: Overall, 32,312 FF/UMEC/VI and 12,230 BUD/GLY/FORM Medicare FFS patients were included. After weighting, median follow-up was 9 months. Compared with BUD/GLY/FORM, FF/UMEC/VI users had a 12% lower rate of annualized moderate-severe COPD exacerbations [0.80 and 0.91 PPY; RR (95% CI): 0.88 (0.85-0.92); P < 0.001] and a 10% lower risk of moderate-severe exacerbations at 12 months post-initiation [HR (95% CI): 0.90 (0.87-0.93); P < 0.001], driven by moderate exacerbations. FF/UMEC/VI compared with BUD/GLY/FORM users had 11% lower risk of all-cause mortality at 12 months post-initiation [5.6% vs. 6.4%; HR (95% CI): 0.89 (0.80-0.98); P = 0.020]. Results were consistent among patients with Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, or commercial insurance.

Conclusions: In this real-world comparative effectiveness study, FF/UMEC/VI was associated with significantly lower rate and risk of COPD exacerbations than BUD/GLY/FORM.