Effect of High Dose Ciclesonide on Asthma Control

Control of Moderate or Severe Asthma With 160, 320 and 640 mcg Ciclesonide/Day. A One-year Randomised, Double-blind, Multicenter Trial.

The aim of the trial is to investigate asthma control with 160 to 640 mcg ciclesonide/day. Asthma control will be assessed by the Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ).

Inclusion Criteria:

• Written informed consent was provided
• History of persistent bronchial asthma for at least 6 months
• Current treatment with an Inhaled Corticosteroid (ICS) at a stable dose in the dose range of 200-1000 μg Fluticasone Propionate (FP)/day or equivalent for a minimum of 12 weeks
• Good inhalation technique
• Under the current ICS pre-treatment the ACQ score ranges between ≥ 0.75 and ≥ 2

Exclusion Criteria:

• Clinically relevant abnormal laboratory values suggesting an unknown disease and requiring further clinical evaluation
• Concomitant severe diseases (e.g. malignant diseases during the past 5 years [other than basal or squamous cell carcinoma], hepatitis C, acquired immune deficiency syndrome [AIDS])
• Diseases which are contraindications for the use of ICS (e.g. active or inactive pulmonary tuberculosis or relevant fungal, bacterial or viral infections of the lower respiratory tract demanding specific treatment)
• Use of systemic glucocorticosteroids within 4 weeks (injectable depot steroids 6 weeks) before entry into the baseline period, or more than 3 times during the last 6 months