Metered-dose inhalers have long been the only game in town for asthma sufferers despite their inefficient record in getting drugs to where they're needed and the difficulty some patients have--especially children--in using them properly. That will soon change, according to an analysis of data led by David Price of the University of Aberdeen in the U.K. and head of the company Respiratory Research. In-PharmaTechnologist reports that even though an orally administered leukotriene-receptor antagonist (LTRA) proved equally as effective as inhaled therapies, "they concluded the pill was easier to administer and more patients preferred it." Price tells in-PharmaTechnologist that LTRA use will likely be used as first-line therapy, with inhalers used only when the pills fail to work. Price estimates that means about half of all asthma patients will begin to use oral medication. More here