Project description:Background:Patients with severe, uncontrolled asthma experience debilitating symptoms that result in meaningful reductions to health-related quality of life. Benralizumab is an interleukin-5 receptor alpha-directed cytolytic monoclonal antibody that reduces exacerbations and improves asthma symptoms for patients with severe, uncontrolled eosinophilic asthma. Objective:The objective of this study was to evaluate improvements in daily asthma-related health status outcomes following treatment with benralizumab. Methods:Pooled results from the SIROCCO (NCT01928771) and CALIMA (NCT01914757) Phase III studies were analyzed. Patients aged 12-75 years with severe, uncontrolled asthma, and blood eosinophil counts (BEC) ?300 and ?150 cells/µL were evaluated. Patients received subcutaneous benralizumab 30 mg every 4 weeks (Q4W) or every 8 weeks (Q8W, first three doses Q4W) or placebo and completed a daily diary reporting rescue medication use, night-time awakening requiring rescue medication use, perceived tiredness, and asthma-related activity impairment. Outcome measures were compared across treatment arms from baseline to end of treatment (EOT) using a mixed-effect model for repeated measures analyses. Results:Patients with BEC ?300 cells/µL receiving benralizumab Q8W had greater improvements in all patient-reported outcomes at EOT relative to baseline than patients receiving placebo (all nominal P?0.013). Effects were reported as early as 3 days following the initial dose and sustained throughout treatment for daily and night-time rescue medication use and night-time awakenings requiring rescue medication. For patients with BEC ?300 and ?150 cells/ µL, sustained improvements in activity impairment items (all nominal P<0.05) were achieved with benralizumab Q8W at week 2. Conclusion:Benralizumab produces sustained reductions by as early as 3 days in rescue medication use and activity impairment for patients with severe, uncontrolled eosinophilic asthma.
Project description:BackgroundAvailability of clinically effective and cost-effective treatments for severe asthma would be beneficial to patients and national healthcare systems. The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical outcomes and healthcare expenditure after incorporating benralizumab into the standard treatment of refractory eosinophilic asthma.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional multicentre study of consecutive patients with refractory eosinophilic asthma who received treatment with benralizumab during at least 12 months. Patient follow-up was performed in specialised severe asthma units. The main effectiveness parameters measured were: the avoidance of one asthma exacerbation, a 3-point increase in the asthma control test (ACT) score, and the difference in utility scores (health-related quality of life) between a 1-year baseline treatment and 1-year benralizumab treatment. The health economic evaluation included direct costs and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs).ResultsAfter 1 year of treatment with benralizumab, patients with refractory eosinophilic asthma showed an improvement in all the effectiveness parameters analysed: improvement of asthma control and lung function, and decrease in the number of exacerbations, oral corticosteroid (both as corticosteroid courses and maintenance therapy), and inhaled corticosteroid use. The total annual cost per patient for the baseline and benralizumab treatment periods were €11,544 and €14,043, respectively, reflecting an increase in costs due to the price of the biological agent but a decrease in costs for the remaining parameters. The ICER was €602 per avoided exacerbation and €983.86 for every 3-point increase in the ACT score.ConclusionsAll the pharmacoeconomic parameters analysed show that treatment with benralizumab is a cost-effective option as an add-on therapy in patients with refractory eosinophilic asthma.
Project description:We evaluated the relationship between benralizumab (30 mg every 4 and 8 weeks (Q4W, Q8W)) pharmacokinetic (PK) exposure and end points of asthma exacerbation rates (AERs) and change from baseline in prebronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1 ) for patients with severe, uncontrolled eosinophilic asthma in the SIROCCO/CALIMA phase III trials. In empirical assessment, AER ratios in SIROCCO were similar across PK quartiles. However, the lowest PK quartile in CALIMA had reduced efficacy; low CALIMA placebo AER possibly confounded this result. In population modeling, estimated benralizumab 90% effective concentration for AER reduction was 927 ng/mL, below the Q8W dosage steady-state average PK concentration (1,066 ng/mL). Benralizumab treatment resulted in more rapid FEV1 improvement vs. placebo (estimated half-maximum time: 7.6 vs. 18 days); this response was greater for patients with greater baseline eosinophil counts. These results confirmed 30 mg Q8W is the optimal benralizumab dosage for patients with severe eosinophilic asthma.
Project description:PurposeIn the Phase III SIROCCO trial (NCT01928771), benralizumab significantly reduced asthma exacerbations and improved lung function and symptoms for patients with severe, uncontrolled eosinophilic asthma. The aim of this subgroup analysis was to evaluate efficacy and safety of benralizumab for Korean patients in SIROCCO.MethodsSIROCCO was a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial of 1,204 patients aged 12-75 years with severe asthma uncontrolled by high-dosage inhaled corticosteroids/long-acting β₂-agonists (ICS/LABA). Patients received benralizumab 30 mg every 4 weeks (Q4W) or every 8 weeks (Q8W; first 3 doses Q4W) or placebo Q4W for 48 weeks. The primary analysis population comprised patients with blood eosinophil counts ≥ 300 cells/μL. This subgroup analysis evaluated Korean patients from this group.ResultsOf 122 Korean patients randomized, 86 had blood eosinophil counts ≥ 300 cells/μL. Benralizumab reduced the annual asthma exacerbation rate by 70% (Q4W: rate estimate 0.79, rate ratio 0.30 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.13-0.65], nominal P = 0.003; n = 28) and 85% (Q8W: rate estimate 0.40, rate ratio 0.15 [95% CI, 0.06-0.36], nominal P < 0.001; n = 30) vs. placebo (rate estimate 2.67, n = 28). Prebronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second was increased with benralizumab treatment by 0.270 L (Q4W: 95% CI, 0.039-0.500, nominal P = 0.023; n = 28) and 0.362 L (Q8W: 95% CI, 0.143-0.582, nominal P = 0.002; n = 30) vs. placebo (n = 27). Total asthma symptom score was similar for patients receiving either benralizumab Q4W (-0.27 [95% CI, -0.83 to 0.30], nominal P = 0.356; n = 27) or benralizumab Q8W (0.10 [95% CI, -0.44 to 0.65], nominal P = 0.708; n = 30) vs. placebo (n = 28). Drug-related adverse events were experienced by 2%, 8%, and 5% of patients in the placebo, benralizumab Q4W, and benralizumab Q8W arms.ConclusionsBenralizumab reduced annual asthma exacerbation rates, increased lung function, and was well-tolerated by Korean patients with severe, uncontrolled eosinophilic asthma.
Project description:The presence of eosinophilic inflammation is a characteristic feature of chronic and acute inflammation in asthma. An estimated 5%-10% of the 300 million people worldwide who suffer from asthma have a severe form. Patients with eosinophilic airway inflammation represent approximately 40%-60% of this severe asthmatic population. This form of asthma is often uncontrolled, marked by refractoriness to standard therapy, and shows persistent airway eosinophilia despite glucocorticoid therapy. This paper reviews personalized novel therapies, more specifically benralizumab, a humanized anti-IL-5Rα antibody, while also being the first to provide an algorithm for potential candidates who may benefit from anti-IL-5Rα therapy.
Project description:There are now multiple monoclonal antibodies targeting different inflammatory pathways of severe asthma. Benralizumab is a recently approved monoclonal antibody indicated for the treatment of severe eosinophilic asthma by targeting a subunit of the IL-5 receptor. Treatment with benralizumab results in significant reductions of blood and tissue eosinophils. Early studies report that this therapy has an adequate safety profile, and this was confirmed in later trials. Phase III studies have shown that benralizumab is effective in reducing the rate of exacerbations and improving asthma symptoms and quality of life in patients with severe eosinophilic asthma. Additionally, treatment with benralizumab has resulted in important reductions in the use of chronic oral corticosteroids. In this review, we evaluate the evidence up to date on the efficacy of benralizumab in severe eosinophilic asthma and explore the implications of this therapy in the ever-growing landscape of therapies for severe asthma.
Project description:Background:Dupilumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody, blocks the shared receptor component for interleukin-4 and interleukin-13, key drivers of type 2 inflammation. In the phase 3 LIBERTY ASTHMA QUEST trial (NCT02414854) in patients with uncontrolled, moderate-to-severe asthma, add-on dupilumab 200?mg or 300?mg every 2?weeks reduced exacerbations and improved forced expiratory volume in 1?s (FEV1) and quality of life over 52?weeks. This analysis evaluates dupilimab's effect on lung function in the overall population, and subgroups with baseline elevated type 2 inflammatory biomarkers. Methods:Patients were randomised to 52?weeks of subcutaneous dupilumab 200?mg every 2 weeks, 300?mg every 2 weeks, or matched-volume placebos. Lung function outcomes were analysed in the overall population, in patients with ?150?eosinophils·µL-1, ?300?eosinophils·µL-1, ?25?ppb fractional exhaled nitric oxide (F eNO), and both ?150?eosinophils·µL-1 and ?25?ppb F eNO, at baseline. Results:Dupilumab treatment (200?mg and 300?mg every 2?weeks) resulted in significant improvements versus placebo after 52?weeks in pre-bronchodilator FEV1 (0.20 and 0.13?L, respectively, versus placebo) and post-bronchodilator FEV1 (0.19 and 0.13?L, respectively), forced vital capacity (FVC) (0.20 and 0.14?L, respectively), forced expiratory flow (0.19 and 0.13?L·s-1, respectively) and pre-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC ratio (1.75% and 1.61%, respectively) in the overall population (p<0.001). Difference versus placebo in post-bronchodilator FEV1 slope of change (weeks 4-52) was significant (0.04?L·year-1; p<0.05). Greater improvements were achieved in patients with elevated baseline blood eosinophil and/or F eNO levels for most outcomes. Conclusions:Dupilumab improves lung function outcomes, including large and small airway measurements and fixed airway obstruction, in patients with uncontrolled, moderate-to-severe asthma; particularly in patients with elevated biomarkers of type 2 inflammation.
Project description:Eosinophils play a pivotal role in the inflammatory pathology of asthma and have been the target of new biologic treatments for patients with eosinophilic asthma. Given the central role of interleukin (IL)-5 in the eosinophil lifecycle, several therapies directed against the IL-5 pathway have been developed, including the anti-IL-5 antibodies mepolizumab and reslizumab and the IL-5 receptor ? (IL-5R?)-directed cytolytic antibody benralizumab. Eosinophil-depleting therapies represent a relatively new class of asthma treatment, and it is important to understand their long-term efficacy and safety. Eosinophils have been associated with host protection and tumor growth, raising potential concerns about the consequences of long-term therapies that deplete eosinophils. However, evidence for these associations in humans is conflicting and largely indirect or based on mouse models. Substantial prospective clinical trial and postmarketing data have accrued, providing insight into the potential risks associated with eosinophil depletion. In this review, we explore the current safety profile of eosinophil-reducing therapies, with particular attention to the potential risks of malignancies and severe infections and a focus on benralizumab. Benralizumab is an IL-5R?-directed cytolytic monoclonal antibody that targets and efficiently depletes blood and tissue eosinophils through antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Benralizumab is intended to treat patients with severe, uncontrolled asthma with eosinophilic inflammation. The integrated analyses of benralizumab safety data from the phase III SIROCCO and CALIMA trials and subsequent BORA extension trial for patients with asthma, and the phase III GALATHEA and TERRANOVA trials for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, form the principal basis for this review.
Project description:Despite several therapeutic choices, 10-20% of patients with severe uncontrolled asthma do not respond to maximal best standard treatments, leading to a healthcare expenditure of up to 80% of overall costs for asthma. Today, there are new important therapeutic strategies, both pharmacological and interventional, that can result in improvement of severe asthma management, such as omalizumab, bronchial thermoplasty and other biological drugs, for example, mepolizumab, reslizumab and benralizumab. The availability of these new treatments and the increasing knowledge of the different asthmatic phenotypes and endotypes makes correct patient selection increasingly complex and important. In this article, we discuss the features of benralizumab compared with other anti-interleukin-5 biologics and omalizumab, the identification of appropriate patients, the safety profile and future developments.
Project description:Severe asthma is a clinically and physiologically heterogeneous disease. Benralizumab is a monoclonal antibody which binds the alpha chain of the interleukin-5 receptor and used for severe eosinophilic asthma worldwide. However, not all eosinophilic asthma patients will benefit from benralizumab due to heterogeneity of this disease. Therefore, we performed comprehensive gene expression analysis of whole blood cells that examine severe asthma disease heterogeneity in response to benralizumab. This study is the first to perform comprehensive transcriptome analysis of whole blood cells to identify transcriptomic endotypes of severe asthma clusters that correlate with benralizumab response. The identified transcriptomic endotypes of severe asthma clusters are associated with gene signatures of eosinophils and neutrophilis.