Aridol™ (Osmohale™  in Denmark) is a new challenge test for detecting airway hyperresponsiveness.  It is designed to identify patients with active airway inflammation such as occurs in asthma.  post@nigaard.com  read more

28. March 2008; Pharmaxis (ASX:PXS, NASDAQ:PXSL) today announced that Australian-made Aridol (mannitol) has been included as an approved test by the International Olympic Committee’s independent Medical Commission.

The approval was contained in their just-released IOC Consensus Statement on Asthmain Elite Athletes, for athletes competing in the Bejing Olympics.

The prevelance of asthma in elite athletes has grown exponentially in recent years, rising from 9% in 1988 to 21% of all athletes at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The IOC Medical Commission found no evidence that the commonly used asthma treatments known as beta-2 agonists conferred any performance enhancing effect, but they were concerned that elite athletes were diagnosed correctly and received the most appropriate therapy.

In the Consensus Statement (excerpt overleaf), the Commission recommends that in diagnosing asthma in Olympians, a bronchial provocation test (such as Aridol) be usedto establish the presence of airway hyperresponsiveness.(see overleaf for more detail of how Aridol works)

Aridol was developed by Australian pharmaceutical company Pharmaxis and has been approved in Australia, several European countries and in parts of Asia. Aridol is recommended in the World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines for testing athletes requesting to use asthma medication.

“Exercise-induced asthma can be a problem for elite athletes,” said Pharmaxis CEO Dr Alan Robertson. “Long-term intense endurance training and environmental factors, such as allergens, chlorine derivatives, pollutants or cold air can increase the risk of developing exercise induced asthma.

A simple-to-use airways inflammation test, Aridol is a dry powder administered to patients’ lungs via a small hand-held inhaler. Doctors can use the results of this test to identify airway hyperresponsiveness – a hallmark of asthma. Medications can be adjusted according to the severity of the disease.

Dr Robertson said this latest international endorsement of Aridol reinforces the usefulness of the test in tackling asthma worldwide. “We are pleased that Aridol is becoming globally recognised as a valuable test for identifying airway hyperresponsiveness,” said Dr Robertson. As well being included as one of the tests recommended by the IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency, Aridol is also included in the GINA Report of Global Strategy for Asthma Management and Prevention, in the US Asthma Management Guidelines and the Australian Asthma Management Handbook

Author: Kjetil Herland