Real-life impact of weight in severe eosinophilic asthma patients treated with benralizumab

Abstract

Background: Safety and efficacy of benralizumab (BEN) for severe eosinophilic asthma (SEA) have been demonstrated in Phase III clinical trials. Obesity is a risk factor for SEA and might affect the beneficial effect of asthma medication. ANANKE is part of AstraZeneca’s global XALOC real-world evidence program for benralizumab.

Aims: To explore whether benralizumab efficacy is affected by body mass index (BMI) in SEA patients.

Methods: Post-hoc analysis of an observational, multicenter, retrospective Italian study of SEA patients with at least 12 weeks of BEN treatment. Patients were stratified according to BMI: normal/underweight (Nr) (BMI<25), overweight (OW) (BMI 25-29) and obese (Ob) (BMI≥30). Clinical features, asthma control (ACT) and annualized exacerbation rates (AER) reported in the three groups before and after BEN administration.

Results: 182 patients were included, Nr=70 (68.6% female, mean age 55±12.8, median BEN duration 9.2 months), OW=79 (48.1% female, mean age 56.6±12.9, median BEN duration 9.4 months), Ob=33 (75.8% female, mean age 56.5±14.7, median BEN duration 10.2 months). Any AER passed from 4.49 to 0.18 (-96%) in Nr (N=66), from 3.99 to 0.32 (-92%) in OW (N=76) and from 3.72 to 0.34 (-90.9%) in Ob (N=30). Severe AER changed from 1.32 to 0.04 (-97%) in Nr, from 1.12 to 0.10 (-91.1%) in OW and from 1.13 to 0.08 (-92.9%) in Ob. ACT increased from a median of 15 in Nr (N=57), 14 in OW (N=61) and 13 in Ob (N=25) to 22 in Nr (N=29) and Ob (N=11) and 23 in Ow (N=35) at week 48.

Conclusions: In an Italian real-world setting, the efficacy of BEN in SEA patients seems not to be affected by obesity, leading to asthma control al >90% reduction of AER and severe AER regardless of BMI.