A new treatment for asthma attacks is being described as “game-changing” by the London scientists who created it.
The drug, which is called benralizumab, is the first new treatment for asthma attacks and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in 50 years. A trial has shown that using the drug can cut the need for further treatment by 30 per cent.
But what is benralizumab and when might it be available?
What is benralizumab?
Benralizumab is what’s known as a monoclonal antibody, which replicates properties of a normal antibody produced by the immune system. The antibody targets a specific group of white blood cells (called eosinophils) to reduce lung inflammation.
How does it work?
The drug is administered by injection and is currently used in low doses as a regular treatment for severe asthma. It works by counteracting flare-ups of eosinophilic exacerbations, a respiratory condition that causes wheezing, breathlessness, coughing and a tight chest. Around half of asthma attacks and a third of COPD attacks are eosinophilic exacerbations, according to the scientists, so the drug could prove incredible useful for people living with these conditions.
What did the trial show?
In a trial of 158 patients, King’s College London found that administering a single higher dose of benralizumab can be effective if it’s injected when someone is having a flare-up. Treatments for asthma and COPD have not changed in 50 years, despite the conditions causing 3.8 million deaths a year worldwide.
Patients at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and London’s Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust were split into three groups – one received a dummy injection and the standard care of prednisolone steroids, one the benralizumab injection and placebo tablets, and the last group had the steroids and benralizumab injection.
According to the study, after 28 days, symptoms of coughing, wheezing and breathlessness were better in those taking the injection. After 90 days, there were four times fewer people in the benralizumb group who failed treatment, compared to patients just taking steroids. There was also a reported improvement in the quality of life for people living with the conditions.
“This could be a game-changer for people with asthma and COPD,” Professor Mona Bafadhel, who led the trial, said. “Benralizumab is a safe and effective drug already used to manage asthma. We’ve used the drug in a different way – at the point of exacerbation – to show that it’s more effective than steroid tablets, which is the only treatment currently available.”
When could it be available in the UK?
Although the findings from the trial are promising, the treatment will not be available yet. Benralizumb will be used in a bigger trial, which starts next year and lasts for two years, to test its effectiveness.
However, researchers have said that, if successful, the injection could possibly be administered safely at home, in a GP practice or in A&E.
