Next-generation Trixeo Aerosphere propellant offers a 99.9% reduction in Global Warming Potential compared to current propellant
AstraZeneca’s Trixeo Aerosphere is the first medicine delivered by a pressurised metered-dose inhaler (pMDI) approved with the propellant that has 99.9% lower Global Warming Potential than propellants used in currently available pMDIs.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects around 1.2 million people in the UK and is the most common cause of emergency hospital admissions. Trixero Aerosphere helps with breathing more easily and improving symptoms of COPD, such as wheezing and coughing. It can also prevent flare-ups of COPD.
Low-carbon Trixeo Aerosphere will be available in 2025
The newly approved version of Trixeo Aerosphere replaces the propellant HFA-134a with HFO-1234ze(E) – a fluorinated gas with near-zero Global Warming Potential. The propellant is not an active medicine but is used to deliver the inhaled dose.
The new version will be available in the UK in the second half of 2025, and the current version will continue to be available for patients.
Trixeo Aerosphere is used twice daily as a long-term maintenance treatment, and the active ingredients will remain the same.
Julian Beach, MHRA Interim Executive Director, Healthcare Quality and Access, said: “Keeping patients safe and enabling their access to high quality, safe and effective medicines are key priorities for us. Inhalers are a cornerstone of COPD treatment, helping manage symptoms and prevent exacerbations. However, some inhalers can also contribute to greenhouse gas emissions through their propellants. This approval supports the continued availability of a widely used COPD treatment while enabling a transition to inhalers with a lower carbon footprint – without compromising safety, quality or clinical benefit.”
Ruud Dobber, Executive Vice President, BioPharmaceuticals Business Unit, AstraZeneca, said: “The UK approval of Trixeo Aerosphere with the next-generation propellant is an industry first and a major milestone in AstraZeneca’s commitment to transition our pMDI portfolio to the propellant with near-zero Global Warming Potential. Starting with Trixeo Aerosphere, we are addressing the needs of both patients and the environment in devastating diseases like COPD, which affects hundreds of millions of people and is a leading cause of death globally.”
The hidden impact of inhalers on the environment
Many inhalers use propellants to create a puff of medicine, which the user inhales. These types of inhalers are called pressurised metered dose inhalers (pMDIs).
The propellants are also greenhouse gases and are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide, impacting climate change. Despite this, they are safe for the person using them.
pMDIs comprise 70% of inhalers prescribed in the UK, causing 3% of the NHS’s overall carbon emissions. This makes them the single most significant contributor to the NHS’s carbon emissions of any medicine.
Currently, in other European countries, most people who need inhalers use lower-carbon inhalers. In Sweden, for example, 13% of inhaler sales are for pMDIs, compared to 70% in the UK.
Karin Smyth, Minister of State for Health, said: “With 1.2 million people using inhalers in the UK, there is no doubt about their impact on the environment. This is another example of the UK being at the forefront of delivering innovative, environmentally friendly and top-quality medicines that will benefit patients across the UK. Through our Plan for Change, we will lower our carbon footprint in our mission towards Net Zero and rebuild our NHS.”
Omar Usmani, Professor of Respiratory Medicine at Imperial College London, said: “Pressurised metered-dose inhaled medicines are essential for millions of people living with respiratory diseases in the UK. The transition of Trixeo to the propellant with near-zero Global Warming Potential means that healthcare professionals can focus on optimising outcomes for their COPD patients based on clinical need while supporting climate goals. Clinicians and their patients shouldn’t feel that they have to choose between the most appropriate treatment and the planet.”
