Formoterol
- Class: Long-acting beta-2 agonist (LABA)
- Used for: asthma and COPD maintenance
- Say it: for-MOH-ter-ol
- Forms: inhaler, nebulizer
FORMOTEROL has a MOTOR — it starts within minutes and still runs for twelve hours.
That fast start is the whole reason budesonide-formoterol can be both preventer and reliever: every rescue puff delivers a dose of steroid at the same time.
Unlike salmeterol it begins working within one to three minutes, as fast as albuterol. That is what makes combined budesonide-formoterol usable as both the preventer and the reliever.
Side effects
Common: tremor, palpitations, headache
Serious: asthma death if used without a steroid
Typical dose
12 micrograms twice daily inhaled
Fast enough in onset to double as a reliever when combined with budesonide.
Check yourself
Why can budesonide-formoterol be used as a reliever when salmeterol combinations cannot?
- Formoterol has a rapid onset, so it relieves symptoms as quickly as albuterol
- Budesonide acts within seconds
- Formoterol is a short-acting drug
- Salmeterol is unsafe at any dose
Show answer
A. Formoterol has a rapid onset, so it relieves symptoms as quickly as albuterol
Both are long-acting, but only formoterol starts within minutes. That single pharmacological difference is what allows one inhaler to be both preventer and reliever, with steroid delivered on every rescue puff.
See it, don't memorize it
The app has the mechanism comic and a patient case for Formoterol – plus the name link, the class mnemonic, pronunciation you can hear, and a self-check, for the top 100 drugs. One purchase, no subscription, no account.