Abstract
Background: Biological therapies for severe asthma have been demonstrated to effectively reduce exacerbations, by approximately 50-60% in RCTs. From clinical experience, some patients may experience complete resolution of exacerbations. However, the proportion of complete responders in a real-life setting has not been reported.
Methods: The Danish Severe Asthma Register (DSAR) is a nationwide register of all Danish patients commenced on biological therapy. We identified all patients who had received at least one year of treatment with either omalizumab, mepolizumab, benralizumab, or reslizumab, and assessed the proportion of patients without exacerbations during the first year of treatment.
Results: There were 97 patients followed for at least one year treated with omalizumab (n=16), mepolizumab (n=69), benralizumab (n=8), or reslizumab (n=4). These patients experienced a median number of exacerbations of 3 (1-5) in the previous 12 months before start of biological treatment. After one year, 61 (63%) patients had had no exacerbations on biological therapy. The proportion of patients without exacerbations was 67%, 65%, 67%, and 25% for omalizumab, mepolizumab, benralizumab, and reslizumab, respectively.
Conclusion: More than half of patients treated with biologics for severe asthma had no exacerbations during the first year of treatment. The potential for down-titration of treatment should be explored in this group.
Footnotes
Cite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2020; 56: Suppl. 64, 2677.
This abstract was presented at the 2020 ERS International Congress, in session “Respiratory viruses in the "pre COVID-19" era”.
This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).
- Copyright ©the authors 2020