Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) has been identified by the World Health Organization as a Top 5 Disease by 2020 . It affects nearly 4% of the world’s population and is largely associated with cigarette smoking (WHO World Health Report 1999 ).
COPD is a debilitating condition characterized by declining lung function and exacerbations leading to hospitalization and death. Many patients develop COPD from chronic bronchitis, a condition associated with abnormal mucociliary clearance and chronic lung infection. Pulmolytic™ is unique; it is a truncated natural human protein that is targeted to normalize epithelial salt balance to improve mucus hydration and clearance properties and therefore has the potential to benefit COPD patients.
There are no specific therapies yet on the market for COPD, many patients are using asthma drugs (global market U.S.$2.1B per year). The direct healthcare costs of this disease exceed $15B in the U.S. (Decision Resources Mosaic #24 COPD 2000) and €4 in Europe (Morgan Stanley Pharmaceuticals Report 11/17/04).
If you want to learn more about COPD, talk with your physician and visit the following websites:
American Lung Association (www.lungusa.org)
Gold Initiative (www.goldcopd.com)
