0000000000696843
AUTHOR
Sally E. Wenzel
The effect of treatment with omalizumab, an anti-IgE antibody, on asthma exacerbations and emergency medical visits in patients with severe persistent asthma
Background: Patients with severe persistent asthma who are inadequately controlled despite treatment according to current asthma management guidelines have a significant unmet medical need. Such patients are at high risk of serious exacerbations and asthma-related mortality. Methods: Here, we pooled data from seven studies to determine the effect of omalizumab, an anti-immunoglobulin E (IgE) monoclonal antibody, on asthma exacerbations in patients with severe persistent asthma. Omalizumab was added to current asthma therapy and compared with placebo (in five double-blind studies) or with current asthma therapy alone (in two open-label studies). The studies included 4308 patients (2511 tre…
Characterising individual response to mepolizumab treatment
Background: Patients with severe eosinophilic asthma (SEA) often have heterogenous phenotypes with periods of asthma worsening, making it difficult to assess mepolizumab treatment response. Aims: To define patient level variables for mepolizumab treatment response. Methods: In this post-hoc analysis we examined mepolizumab response in patients with SEA (≥2 exacerbations in prior year) in the 32-week, randomised, placebo-controlled MENSA study and the following 52-week, open-label COSMOS study. Patients who completed both studies and received mepolizumab throughout were included (n=311). Results: In MENSA, 67% and 21% of patients had 0 or 1 exacerbations, respectively, and were considered re…