Designing clinical trials to address the needs of childhood and adult asthma: the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's AsthmaNet

Abstract

In 2008, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute announced its intent to support a new asthma network known as AsthmaNet. This clinical trials consortium, now in its fifth year, has been charged with developing and executing clinical trials to address the most important asthma management questions and identify new treatment approaches in pediatric and adult patients. This review will discuss the organization of AsthmaNet and the scientific context in which the network was developed and began its work, report the results of an internal priority-setting exercise designed to guide the network's scientific strategy, and highlight the portfolio of clinical trials, proof-of-concept studies, and mechanistic studies planned for the 7-year period of the network to update the global asthma community regarding the progress and processes of the network.

Keywords: APRIL; AVICA; Acetaminophen Vs. Ibuprofen in Children with Asthma; AsthmaNet; Azithromycin for Preventing the Development of Upper Respiratory Tract Illness into Lower Respiratory Tract Symptoms in Children; BADGER; BARD; Best Add-on Therapy Giving Effective Responses; Best African-American Response to Asthma Drugs; DCC; Data coordinating center; ICS; INFANT; Individualized Therapy for Asthma in Toddlers; Inhaled corticosteroid; NHLBI; NIH; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Institutes of Health; OCELOT; Oral Corticosteroids for Treating Episodes of Significant Lower Respiratory Tract Symptoms in Children; PRC; Protocol Review Committee; RTI; Respiratory tract illness; SC; STICS; Steering Committee; Step-up Yellow Zone Inhaled Corticosteroids to Prevent Exacerbations; VIDA; Vitamin D Add-on Therapy Enhances Corticosteroid Responsiveness in Asthma; asthma; asthma management; clinical trials; mechanistic studies; proof of concept; treatment.