Schering-Plough's mometasone furoate inhalation powder (Asmanex Twisthaler 220 mcg) has been approved by the FDA for the first-line maintenance treatment of asthma as preventive therapy in patients 12 years of age and older. Mometasone furoate is the only inhaled asthma controller therapy approved for a once-daily indication and management of asthma in patients previously treated with bronchodilators alone or inhaled corticosteroids.

In clinical trials, mometasone furoate demonstrated substantial improvement in lung function, decreased use of rescue medication, decreased incidence of nighttime awakenings, and significant improvements in daytime symptoms such as coughing and wheezing.

Adverse events associated with mometasone furoate in clinical trials were generally mild-to-moderate in severity. They included headache, allergic rhinitis, pharyngitis, upper respiratory infection, sinusitis, oral candidiasis, dysmenorrheal, musculoskeletal pain, back pain, dyspepsia, myalgia, abdominal pain, and nausea.

Mometasone furoate is dispensed in an inhalation-driven device that does not use a propellant, eliminating the need for hand-breath coordination and offering a numeric dose counter that provides a visual indication of the remaining doses.