Many people with asthma use inhalers to control the chronic inflammation in their lungs. But for those with more severe forms of the disease, the standard inhaled medication may not be enough to keep the wheezing, chest tightness and attacks at bay.

Now, a new combination-therapy — using three drugs in a single inhaler — may provide some relief, according to doctors presenting the results of two clinical trials on Monday at the annual conference of the European Respiratory Society in Madrid and published in The Lancet.

“This three-in-one treatment has an advantage in a relatively broad population of moderate to severe asthmatics,” said J. Christian Virchow, a respiratory specialist at the Rostock University Medical Centre in Germany, who led the studies. The clinical trials were financed by Chiesi Farmaceutici, a drugmaker in Italy that is seeking to market its new therapy in countries around the globe.

Asthma affects about 300 million people worldwide, including 25 million Americans. The majority of patients respond well to low or moderate doses of what is called controller therapy: Once or twice a day, they take a puff of an inhaled corticosteroid that helps reduce inflammation in their airways. If their symptoms do not subside, the dose is “stepped up” or another drug, like a long-acting bronchodilator, is added to their regimen to relax the muscles lining respiratory pathways and make it easier for air to flow through.