Updates are available Erratum dated 2017-06-08

Article History

Received: 16 October 2015

Revised: 30 November 2015

Accepted: 2 December 2015

First Online: 25 February 2016

Competing interests

: KG-J has acted as a consultant for, and spoken on behalf of, Almirall, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, GlaxoSmithKline, Mundipharma/Napp, Novartis and Teva. GB has received honoraria for lectures from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, GlaxoSmithKline, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer and UCB; he is a member of advisory boards for AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis. RJ has received personal fees from Almirall, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, GlaxoSmithKline, Health Intelligence; grants, personal fees and non-financial support from Novartis; and personal fees and non-financial support from Mundipharma/Napp. MM has received speaker fees from Almirall, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, Esteve, GlaxoSmithKline, Grifols, Menarini, Novartis and Pfizer, and consulting fees from Almirall, Boehringer Ingelheim, CSL Behring, Gebro Pharma, GlaxoSmithKline, Grifols, MedImmune, Novartis and Pfizer. MB was an employee of Novartis at study initiation. Currently, he is an employee of Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH (Germany). RS, AR and ED are employees of Research in Real-Life, which has conducted paid research in respiratory disease on behalf of the following organisations: Aerocrine, AKL Ltd, Almirall, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, GlaxoSmithKline, Meda, Mundipharma, Napp, Novartis, Orion, Takeda, Teva and Zentiva. DLK is an employee of Novartis Pharma AG (Basel, Switzerland). DP discloses the following. Advisory board membership: Aerocrine, Almirall, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, Meda, Mundipharma, Napp, Novartis and Teva. Consultancy: Almirall, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, GlaxoSmithKline, Meda, Mundipharma, Napp, Novartis, Pfizer and Teva. Grants/grants pending: Aerocrine, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, British Lung Foundation, Chiesi, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Meda, Merck, Mundipharma, Novartis, Orion, Pfizer, Respiratory Effectiveness Group, Takeda, Teva, UK National Health Service and Zentiva. Payments for lectures/speaking: Almirall, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, Cipla, GlaxoSmithKline, Kyorin, Meda, Merck, Mundipharma, Novartis, Pfizer, SkyePharma, Takeda and Teva. Payment for manuscript preparation: Mundipharma and Teva. Patents (planned, pending or issued): AKL Ltd. Payment for the development of educational materials: GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis. Stock/stock options: shares in AKL Ltd, which produces phytopharmaceuticals, and owns 80% of Research in Real Life Ltd and its subsidiary social enterprise Optimum Patient Care. Payment for travel/accomodation/meeting expenses: Aerocrine, Boehringer Ingelheim, Mundipharma, Napp, Novartis and Teva. Funding for patient enrolment or completion of research: Almirall, Chiesi, Teva and Zentiva. Peer reviewer for grant committees: Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation programme (2012), HTA (2014) and Medical Research Council (2014). Unrestricted funding for investigator-initiated studies: Aerocrine, AKL Ltd, Almirall, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, Meda, Mundipharma, Napp, Novartis, Orion, Takeda, Teva and Zentiva.