Abstract
Introduction: As many as 8% of patients with asthma in Canada have severe disease (Asthma Society of Canada, 2014). Patients with severe, eosinophilic asthma may benefit from a biologic therapy to improve asthma control. Benralizumab is an anti–IL-5Rɑ biologic approved in Canada in February 2018 for add-on maintenance therapy for severe eosinophilic asthma.
Objective: We sought to describe time to benralizumab discontinuation for Canadian patients initiating therapy for severe eosinophilic asthma.
Methods: This analysis is an early phase of the Canadian contribution to the XALOC global multi-country real-world evidence program. Administrative data were extracted from a convenience sample of 136 injection clinics across Canada for patients initiating therapy between April 2018 and May 2019. Patients with ≥1 injection(s) of benralizumab were included in the analysis. Discontinuation was defined as the time of last injection if no further treatment was given within 90 days. Patients with pending appointments were censored at end of follow up. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses were used to describe the time to discontinuation, stratified by prior biologic exposure.
Results: Data were available for 2,657 patients with a mean age of 56.7 years (SD 14.1). The proportion of patients who discontinued at 6 months post treatment initiation was 8% (95% CI 7.2–9.7%) and 15% (95% CI 13.2–17.4%) at 12 months. No significant difference in probability of discontinuation was noted by prior biologic exposure.
Conclusion: Of patients initiating benralizumab, 85% remained on treatment for at least 12 months. Future research is needed to detail the clinical rationale for real-world discontinuation of treatment.
Footnotes
Cite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2020; 56: Suppl. 64, 4646.
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