The first new treatment for asthma attacks in 50 years has been hailed as a “game-changer” by doctors and patients.
A clinical trial of the drug benralizumab showed it was far more effective than conventional steroid tablets at treating life-threatening breathing difficulties in people with a severe form of the disease.
The monoclonal antibody specifically targets white blood cells that can invade the lungs of people with so-called eosinophilic asthma and cause the airways to swell and close up.
The form of asthma accounts for around half of all emergency flare-ups of the disease.
The same biological mechanism also underlies a third of all severe exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
But researchers at King’s College London found asthma or COPD patients who were given an injection of the smart drug during their attack were less likely to suffer from wheezing, breathlessness and other symptoms four weeks later.
There was also a marked improvement in their quality of life, according to results published in the journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
Professor Mona Bafadhel, the lead investigator for the study, said: “This could be a game-changer for people with asthma and COPD.
“We hope this study will change how exacerbations are treated for the future, ultimately improving the health of over a billion people living with asthma and COPD across the world.”
An average of four people with asthma and 85 with COPD die in the UK every day.
Steroid tablets have been the mainstay of treatment during flare-ups for decades, reducing inflammation in the lungs.
But they don’t always work so patients have to have repeated courses of the drugs, with a risk of re-admission to hospital and sometimes death.
Regular use also increases the risk of diabetes and the bone-weakening disease osteoporosis.
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‘An amazing turnaround’
Sheraz Hussein, 36, developed eosinophilic asthma 13 years ago. His condition spiralled out of control, with asthma attacks almost every day.
But the benralizumab injection he had in hospital helped stabilise his disease.
He told Sky News he can scarcely believe his renewed health and vitality.
He said: “I was going into that gloomy kind of state that nothing seems to be working for me, how am I going to survive my whole life?
“The exacerbations I was getting, the chest infections, the shortness of breath – my normal lifestyle was completely distorted.
“But since the drug, it has been an amazing turnaround.”
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‘It’s appalling this is the first new treatment in 50 years’
Benralizumab can be used at a lower dose to manage symptoms in people with eosinophilic asthma. But the finding that a higher dose injection during an attack leads to better outcomes is significant.
Dr Samantha Walker of the charity Asthma + Lung UK said: “It’s great news for people with lung conditions.
“But it’s appalling that this is the first new treatment in 50 years, and an indication of how desperately underfunded lung health research is.”
