Researchers said that the results of a clinical study to be presented next month have shown that the blockbuster inhaled lung drug Spiriva, which is marketed by Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim reduces heart risk. These findings are contradictory to the conclusion reached earlier by pooled analysis of past studies, which said that Spiriva or tiotropium raised the risk of heart attack, stroke and death from heart disease.

The current results were obtained from a four year clinical trial known as Uplift, which involved nearly 6000 patients and was sponsored by Pfizer and Boehringer. Lead investigator Marc De Cramer of the University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium, said in a statement, 'There was no evidence of an increased risk of death during the study.'

Boehringer, a German held private company and Pfizer had said that they strongly disagreed with the conclusions that were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on the pooled analysis of past studies.

Reporting on the current study the researchers said in a statement that the results were in favor of Spiriva . 'During treatment, fatal events occurred in 381 patients (12.8 percent) in the tiotropium-treated group and 411 (13.7 percent) in the placebo group -- a 16 percent risk reduction in the tiotropium group.' A similar risk reduction for serious cardiac adverse events was also noted during the study.

The drug Spiriva, is used to treat chronic bronchitis and emphysema -- serious disorders typically caused by smoking, had sales of 1.8 billion euros ($2.6 billion) in 2007. Safety and efficacy data on the Uplift study is to be presented at the annual meeting of the European Respiratory Society in Berlin on October 5.

If the safety issues on the drug Spiriva drag on unresolved, Advair, Glaxo's top-selling medicine could stand to gain said analysts at Deutsche Bank.