SPIRIVA®* celebrates 10 years of ongoing commitment to patients and advancing clinical innovation in COPD

Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany / New York, N.Y., USA (3 September 2012) -  Coinciding with the annual European Respiratory Society Congress, ERS 2012, SPIRIVA® (tiotropium), the first once-daily long-acting inhaled anticholinergic maintenance treatment for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) will mark its 10^th anniversary since launch.* With over 25 million patient years of experience^† , once-daily SPIRIVA® is the most prescribed COPD maintenance treatment worldwide.^1,2 This unique position is rooted in the wealth of clinical trial data available to prove tiotropium’s clinical efficacy in reducing breathlessness (dyspnoea) and the risk of exacerbations as well as improving patients’ quality of life.^3,4,5,6 Over the years, more than 175 clinical trials with tiotropium in COPD have been conducted investigating a broad range of patients in studies of up to four years.⁷