GOLD International COPD Conference to cover spirometry, treatments, multimorbidity

Key takeaways:

• Spirometry, treatments, telemedicine and multimorbidity are notable topics at this year’s GOLD International COPD Conference.
• Updates made in the 2025 GOLD report will also be shared at this event.

The 2024 GOLD International COPD Conference will be held Nov. 11 and 12 in Philadelphia and online, featuring presentations from various speakers on important topics pertaining to COPD care.

“This conference is the largest one-day symposium for people that treat patients with COPD and research in COPD that exists in the world,” Gerard J. Criner, MD, FACP, FACCP, GOLD conference director, told Healio.

Healio spoke with Criner ahead of the meeting to highlight important topics being presented and what attendees can expect at this year’s conference.

Notably, this year’s conference has 30 international speakers and 30 didactic programs, Criner told Healio.

2025 GOLD report, spirometry

The main event within this conference is the 2025 GOLD report presentation, and Criner said the accompanying sessions reflect and hint at some important topics that have been updated in the new report.

“Some of the topics being presented will be things discussed in the new report, but this allows us to go into depth in some of the topics,” Criner told Healio.

“I’m happy and excited about the program,” Criner added.

Delving into the meeting agenda, one session is focused on spirometry, and Criner told Healio this will likely feature back and forth between the panelists as the only thing agreed upon regarding spirometry is that it is underutilized.

“Spirometry is crucial for the diagnosis of COPD, and where it's clinically indicated, it's only really used 15% to 20% of the time,” Criner said.

According to Criner, there will be discussion on what is the best reference standard because there are several possible choices, such as absolute cutoff of FEV₁ to FVC ratio, lower limit of normal and the Global Lung Function Initiative.

Additionally, speakers in this session will address use of race-based lung function equations. Criner noted the significance of this topic and highlighted a recent study presented at the 2024 American Thoracic Society International Conference and published in The New England Journal of Medicine that found millions of individuals had different clinical, occupational and financial outcomes with race-neutral vs. -specific lung function equations.

The last topic being discussed within this session will touch on ways clinicians can move spirometry out of being underutilized.

More specifically, Criner said the speaker will give details on “what can be done to make spirometry more practical, available or more usable in a clinic.”

FDA-approved COPD treatments

In addition to the 2025 GOLD report and spirometry, two treatments for patients with COPD that recently received FDA approval will be part of the conversation.

Ensifentrine (Ohtuvayre, Verona Pharma) was approved by the FDA for treating adults with COPD in late June, and Criner said two sessions will touch on this drug, one of which will review data from the trials the FDA used when making its decision.

“We wanted to review the clinical trial data that show what patients benefited and how did they benefit from the therapy to give clinicians some guidance,” Criner told Healio.

This review will also cover the requirements for an Ohtuvayre prescription, Criner said.

“In the same session, we’re going to provide some updates on two interventional trials that will result this year,” Criner told Healio. “One is an interventional trial for chronic bronchitis that used rheoplasty.

“In a similar vein, we’ll also talk about the effect of targeted lung denervation in preventing exacerbations in patients with COPD,” he added.

The second COPD treatment being highlighted at the conference is dupilumab (Dupixent; Regeneron, Sanofi). The FDA approved dupilumab for treating adults with poorly controlled COPD with type 2 inflammation in late September.

Presentations on dupilumab and other biologics, namely mepolizumab (Nucala, GSK) and benralizumab (Fasenra, AstraZeneca), will take place during the fourth session on novel drugs in COPD.

“Speakers will be talking about eosinophil as a biomarker and discuss, for the people with type 1 and type 2 inflammation, which biologic for which patient,” Criner told Healio. “Overall, what's the goal of these therapies besides decreasing exacerbation? Can they modify disease progression?”

Telemedicine, multimorbidity

This year’s conference will also feature a session on telemedicine and digital tools in COPD and a session on multimorbidity in patients with COPD.

When asked why it is important to talk about telemedicine and digital tools in today’s world, Criner highlighted how both have the potential to more accurately reflect what a patient with COPD is going through.

“Periodic, intermittent tests in a clinic/lab, such as spirometry or 6-minute walk test, don't really reflect the daily burden of the disease in a patient with COPD, but we think telemedicine has a lot of opportunity,” Criner told Healio.

In terms of wearables and mobile apps, Criner said their features and role in predicting and monitoring exacerbations will be discussed.

The session on multimorbidity will feature talks on several diseases/conditions that often occur in patients with COPD. Criner told Healio these include diastolic dysfunction, pulmonary hypertension, metabolic disorders and lung cancer.

“About 50% of patients have four or more comorbid conditions,” Criner said.

“The major cause of death in patients with COPD, besides respiratory failure, is lung cancer,” Criner added. “We think it’s important to highlight the importance of being aware of the implications of lung cancer, both surveillance screening that pretty much all these patients should have on an annual basis, as well as evolving therapies that would be relevant to treat patients with COPD who have lung cancer.”

New this year

When asked if there is anything new at this year’s conference, Criner said “the content of the program will be published as a symposium as a supplement to the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.”

Additionally, Criner highlighted the last session of the conference titled, “Industry pipeline: Upcoming novel treatments for patients with COPD,” which will feature presentations from AstraZeneca, Chiesi, GSK, Genentech/Roche and Sanofi.

“There's a lot that’s transformed the disease in the last 15 years, and this gives a glimpse into the future of what other things are being developed to change and improve patient care even further,” Criner told Healio.

The Healio team will be on-site in Philadelphia during the 2024 GOLD Conference. Follow our coverage of the meeting here and on X, formerly known as Twitter, @HealioPulm.

Reference:

• GOLD COPD Conference program agenda. https://www.goldcopdconference.com/event/024b8041-959a-4b44-840f-a80a9250b717/websitePage:645d57e4-75eb-4769-b2c0-f201a0bfc6ce. Accessed Oct. 30, 2024.