A panel of drug experts will review three asthma therapies today to determine if they should stay on the market after a small number of cases were reported by patients who said the drugs were associated with severe asthma exacerbations. The drugs are GlaxoSmithKline's Advair and Serevent and Novartis' Foradil. Two of the drugs contain the active ingredient salmeterol. Foradil contains formoterol. Advair and Serevent both feature warnings of a small increase in the number of deaths of patients who added the drug to their asthma therapies. A number of drug experts are expected to testify on behalf of the drugs' efficacy in treating asthma.
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