BL reports non-financial support (equipment) from GSK; equipment, consulting, and talks from Thorasys; consulting, advisory board, and talks for Circassia; grants, personal fees (consulting, talks, and advisory board), and other support (attending American Thoracic Society and European Respiratory Society) from AstraZeneca; grants, personal fees (consulting, talks, and advisory board), and other support (attending ERS) from Teva; grants, personal fees (consulting talks and advisory board), and other support from Chiesi; grants, personal fees (consulting, advisory board, and talks) from Sanofi; personal fees (consulting, talks, and advisory board) from Circassia; personal fees (consulting) from Lupin; personal fees (consulting and talks) from Glenmark; personal fees (consulting) from Vectura; personal fees (consulting) from Dr Reddy; personal fees (consulting) from Sandoz; grants, personal fees (consulting, talks, and advisory board), and other support (attending British Thoracic Society) from Boehringer Ingelheim; and grants and personal fees (advisory board and talks) from Mylan; and the son of BL is presently an employee of AstraZeneca. All other authors declare no competing interests.