Proventil HFA is a prescription only bronchodilator. It helps open up the airways in your
lungs to make it easier to breathe. This medicine is used to treat and to prevent bronchospasm
(asthma). Asthma is a chronic lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways. Asthma
causes recurring periods of wheezing chest tightness, shortness of breath, and coughing. The
coughing often occurs at night or early in the morning. The active component of Proventil HFA
Inhalation Aerosol is albuterol sulfate. Albuterol sulfate is the official generic name in the
United States. The World Health Organization recommended name for the drug is salbutamol
sulfate. HFA is an acronym that is short for the group of chemicals in the hydrofluroalkane
group. HFAs are a newer type of propellant used in metered dose inhalers for asthma. This
means they help push the medicine in an inhaler canister out in to the air in mist form, so that
people with asthma can easily breathe the medicine into their lungs. In the past, propellants
made of CFCs were used, but they were banned because they are harmful to the ozone layer.
Prescription CFC inhalers will no longer be available after 2008. HFA inhalers are considered to
be safe for the environment. Proventil HFA is indicated in adults and children 4 years of age
and older for the treatment or prevention of bronchospasm with reversible obstructive airway
disease and for the prevention of exercise-induced bronchospasm. Proventil HFA was originally
manufactured by Schering-Plough but the company has recently merged with Merck. This
inhalation medication gained FDA approval on August 15, 1996 to treat asthma. Schering-
Plough’s patent (number6352684) for Proventil expired in November 1999.
Albuterol sulfate is a white to off-white crystalline solid. It is soluble in water and slightly
soluble in ethanol. Proventil HFA Inhalation Aerosol is a pressurized metered-dose aerosol unit
for oral inhalation. It...