Footnotes

• Funding Medical writing support was provided by David Finch of Complete Medical Communications, funded by AstraZeneca PLC. AstraZeneca was given the opportunity to review the manuscript to ensure scientific and medical accuracy, regulatory compliance and protection of intellectual property.

• Competing interests DH has received sponsorship to attend international meetings and honoraria for lecturing, attending advisory boards and preparing educational materials from Almirall, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Pfizer. His department has received research funding from AstraZeneca. He is a member of the GOLD Board of Directors & Science Committee. LB is a full-time employee of AstraZeneca. AM was a full-time employee and shareholder in Spoonful of Sugar, a UCL Business company at the time this manuscript was developed. Andrew has previously worked, or is currently working, as a consultant for the following pharmaceutical companies: Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Merck Serono, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Sharpe & Dohme, Roche, Shire and Otsuka.

• Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.