Head-to-head evidence
Salmeterol (DISKUS) vs Vilanterol
Same mechanism, same race: design-graded trial evidence for both assets, with the grading rationale shown. Grades describe the quality of the evidence, never the merits of either security.
Asthma
Shared mechanism: Beta-2 adrenergic receptor · full Asthma pipeline
Salmeterol (DISKUS)
Marketed by GlaxoSmithKline
NCT00395304 · Phase 3 · completed
This was a rigorously designed, fully blinded, randomized crossover trial with a clinically meaningful composite primary measure, but the results available here do not show how the fluticasone-plus-salmeterol arm specifically compared with the other step-up therapies, so the salmeterol-specific effect cannot be confirmed from this data.
Next expected readout: June 2027 · NCT06676319 (registry estimate)
Vilanterol
Marketed by GlaxoSmithKline
NCT01706198 · Phase 3 · completed
The study randomized 4,233 participants to FF/VI or active usual care, but neither participants nor investigators were blinded. Its primary patient-reported asthma-control endpoint was a surrogate/soft measure and was met in favor of FF/VI (71% vs 56%; p<0.001), supporting moderate rather than strong evidence.
The full competitive landscape for each asset (every same-race competitor with aligned evidence, sortable) is on the asset pages: Salmeterol (DISKUS)'s landscape · Vilanterol's landscape