Both found that the drug significantly reduced rates of “exacerbations” – episodes of progressively-worsening shortness of breath, wheezing, and chest tightness.
Advertisement
People with severe, uncontrolled asthma often have high levels of eosinophils in their blood and airways – known as eosinophilia – which is associated with frequent asthma exacerbations. He is the lead author of the SIROCCO trial.
Two trials named Calima and Sirocco compared the effects of benralizumab and a dummy placebo treatment in more than 2,500 patients.
Researchers said the drug works by targeting and killing the IL-5 receptor in the body.
“Benralizumab has a unique way of working in patients with severe asthma with an eosinophilic phenotype and reflects AstraZeneca’s progress in bringing the next generation of respiratory medicines to patients”.
In the trials, dubbed Sirocco and Calima, a total of 2,511 patients who were receiving standard-of-care therapy, including inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting beta 2 agonists, were randomized to receive either 30 mg of benralizumab every four weeks; 30 mg of benralizumab every four weeks three times followed by 30 mg every eight weeks; or placebo for 48 weeks.
Benralizumab jabs prevented severe flare-ups of asthma which could no longer be controlled with high dose steroid inhalers and other drugs. None of these deaths were considered to be related to the treatments.
AstraZeneca Plc said its experimental injection benralizumab helped improve lung function and alleviate symptoms in patients with severe asthma in two advanced clinical trials. “Additionally, the less frequent dosing of anti-interleukin-5 might allow one to consider using these biologics earlier in the course of the disease, and in children”.
“Additional therapeutic options to control severe asthma are urgently needed and our findings support the use of benralizumab as an add-on therapy for the treatment of severe asthma with persistent eosinophilia”, said one of the researchers J. Mark FitzGerald from University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Advertisement
The results were presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress. The rates in exacerbation reductions were neither significant nor consistent. The findings suggest that the drug, which blocks IL-13, may not be sufficient to provide clinically meaningful improvements in reducing asthma exacerbations.
