The newly developed inhaled corticosteroid ciclesonide for the treatment of asthma

Ciclesonide is the most recently developed inhaled corticosteroid for the treatment of asthma to enter global markets. It has been formulated as an aerosol solution in a metered dose inhaler with hydrofluoralkane. The mass median aerodynamic diameter of aerosolised ciclesonide is 1 – 2 µm, providing excellent lung deposition characteristics. Ciclesonide can undergo reversible esterification in the lungs, possibly allowing once-daily dosing, and is highly protein bound, possibly leading to reduced systemic side effects. Clinical trials suggest that ciclesonide effectively controls asthma and has a favourable safety profile.