Characteristics of a real world cohort of Canadians treated with benralizumab

Abstract

Background: Nearly 8% of patients with asthma in Canada have severe disease (Asthma Canada, 2014). Phenotyping may be required to determine dominant profile prior to treatment with a biologic therapy. Benralizumab is an anti-IL-5Rα biologic used as add-on maintenance therapy for severe eosinophilic asthma.

Objective: To describe the characteristics of patients initiating benralizumab for severe eosinophilic asthma in the real world setting.

Methods: This is an early analysis of the POWER study (NCT03833141), part of the XALOC multi-country study program. Eligible patients were recruited from 23 clinics in Canada if they had blood eosinophils ≥300c/µL, total Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ-6) score ≥1.5, and were benralizumab naïve. Baseline data include patient sociodemographic data and self-reported asthma control, disease severity, and quality of life (QoL).

Results: As of Jan 2021, 78 of 200 individuals had completed a baseline assessment. Mean (standard deviation; SD) age at entry was 55(16) years and 72% were female. At baseline 28% of patients report active OCS use.

The baseline mean(SD) ACQ-6 score was 3.18(0.98). Most patients rated their asthma severity as moderate and reported a median (interquartile range) of 3 (2-4) exacerbations in the prior year. Mean (SD) utility and global health rating on the EQ-5D-5L visual analogue scale were 0.61(0.34) and 56.88(20.12) respectively.

Conclusions: At baseline, patients view their asthma as moderate severity but demonstrate poor control, frequent exacerbations, and meet clinical criteria for severe disease. Patients showed disease-related impairment and overall lower QoL at baseline relative to the average Canadian utility score of 0.86 (Guertin, 2018).