A new form of treatment for serious asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) could be “a game changer” for patients, according to respiratory experts.
Doctors said the new way to treat serious asthma and (COPD) marks the first breakthrough in treatment for 50 years.
Almost 900,00 people in Ireland experience asthma at some stage of their life, while 380,000 people are currently living with it. A further 200,000 people have been diagnosed with COPD but it is estimated 500,000 people are living with the condition. Ireland has the highest rate of hospital admission with COPD of any country in the OECD.
A recent trial found offering patients an injection was more effective than the current care of steroid tablets, and cuts the need for further treatment by 30 per cent.
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The results, published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal, could be transformative for millions of people with asthma and COPD around the world. The trial was led by King’s and carried out at Oxford University hospitals NHS foundation trust and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS foundation trust
Benralizumab is a monoclonal antibody that targets specific white blood cells, called eosinophils, to reduce lung inflammation. It is used as a repeat treatment for severe asthma at a low dose, but the trial found a higher single dose could be very effective if injected at the time of a flare-up.
Dr Marcus Butler a specialist in respiratory medicine at St Vincent’s Private Hospital and medical director of the Asthma Socitey of Ireland, said the trial and accompanying study “gives us renewed hope”.
He said asthma and COPD specialists may very soon be able “to offer a large subgroup of asthma patients a new alternative to traditional steroid tablets in the treatment of serious and life-threatening forms of asthma attacks who have easy-to-detect evidence of eosinophilic flare-ups of their disease”.
“A simple blood test in the emergency department could see if this drug is the best option for them. Larger confirmatory studies and careful cost-benefit analyses are awaited but there is real hope that this is a game-changer for how we treat eosinophil asthma and eosinophilic COPD flare-ups.,” he said.
Lead investigator Prof Mona Bafadhel, of King’s College London, said: “This could be a game-changer for people with asthma and COPD. Treatment for asthma and COPD exacerbations have not changed in 50 years, despite causing 3.8 million deaths worldwide a year combined.
“Benralizumab is a safe and effective drug already used to manage severe asthma. We’ve used the drug in a different way – at the point of an exacerbation – to show that it’s more effective than steroid tablets, which is the only treatment currently available.”
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The trial saw patients randomly split into three groups.
One group received the benralizumab injection and dummy tablets. Another group received standard care of prednisolone steroids, 30mg daily for five days, and a dummy injection. The third group received the benralizumab injection and steroids.
After 28 days, respiratory symptoms of coughing, wheezing, breathlessness and sputum were found to be better in those on benralizumab. After 90 days, there were four times fewer people in the benralizumab group who failed treatment compared with those receiving steroids.
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Treatment with the benralizumab injection also took longer to fail, meaning fewer visits to a GP or hospital for patients, researchers said. Furthermore, people also reported a better quality of life on the new regime. – additional reporting: Guardian
