The authors would like to thank the patients, family members and participating staff at all study sites.
Funding
This manuscript and the journal’s Rapid Service fee were sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim.
Medical Writing and/or Editorial Assistance
Support for third-party writing assistance for this manuscript, furnished by Rosie Robson of MediTech Media, under the authors’ conceptual direction and based on feedback from the authors, was provided by Boehringer Ingelheim.
Authorship
All named authors meet the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) criteria for authorship for this article, take responsibility for the integrity of the work as a whole, and have given their approval for this version to be published.
Authorship Contributions
DMGH, EHH, PAF, PMM-Z, BvH, AU, HAMK and SJS contributed to the conception and design of the original studies, as well as acquisition and interpretation of the data. The manuscript was critically reviewed and approved by all authors.
Disclosures
David M. G. Halpin reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, Chiesi and Pfizer, and grants and personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis, outside the submitted work. Eckard H. Hamelmann and Peter A. Frith have nothing to disclose. Petra M. Moroni-Zentgraf, Benjamin van Hecke and Anna Unseld are employees of Boehringer Ingelheim. Huib A.M. Kerstjens reports fees for advisory boards from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Pfizer and Teva, unconditional research grants from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Teva, and patient fees for participation in trials, outside the submitted work. Stanley J. Szefler reports funds to his institution for consulting from Aerocrine, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Daiichi Sankyo, GlaxoSmithKline, Genentech, Novartis, Regeneron, Roche, Sanofi and Teva, and has received research support from the National Institutes of Health, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, GlaxoSmithKline and the Colorado Cancer, Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Disease Program, outside the submitted work.
Compliance with Ethics Guidelines
All studies were conducted in full conformance with the Guidelines for Good Clinical Practice and the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was obtained from all ethics committees/independent review boards at each study site. All patients provided written informed consent.
Data Availability
The datasets analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Open Access
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