monthly Injection Shows Promise in Controlling Severe Asthma, Trial Reveals
A new treatment option is offering hope for individuals with severe asthma, according to findings from the Wayfinder trial led by King’s College London. The study,published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine and presented at the British Thoracic Society winter meeting,demonstrates that a monthly injection of tezepelumab can substantially reduce reliance on steroid medication and improve quality of life for patients whose asthma isn’t well-controlled by standard treatments.
The National Institute for health and Care Excellence (NICE) approved tezepelumab in 2023 as an additional maintenance treatment for patients aged 12 and over. The Wayfinder trial involved nearly 300 adults with severe, uncontrolled asthma who were already taking daily doses of 5mg-40mg of steroid tablets. Participants hailed from 11 countries, including the UK, US, France, Germany, Mexico, and Spain.
After one year of treatment with tezepelumab, over half of the participants were able to discontinue steroid medication entirely without experiencing a worsening of their asthma symptoms. Nearly 90% reduced their steroid use to a low dose, and a third had stopped taking steroids after just six months.
Asthma symptoms include coughing, wheezing, breathlessness, and chest tightness.Severe asthma affects up to 10% of asthmatics and can, in rare cases, be fatal. The trial results showed tezepelumab also significantly improved lung function, asthma symptoms, and overall quality of life, with two-thirds of patients experiencing no asthma attacks during the study period.
“As tezepelumab also suppresses allergy-related symptoms and improves chronic rhinosinusitis as well, the results are notably exciting for patients with severe asthma who suffer with both upper and lower airway symptoms,” said Professor David Jackson, a respiratory medicine expert at King’s College London and asthma services clinical lead at Guy’s and Royal Brompton hospitals, and the study’s lead author.
Dr. Samantha Walker, director of research and innovation at Asthma + Lung UK, hailed the findings as “an incredibly encouraging development for the future of asthma care that could transform the lives of people with severe asthma.” She also emphasized the need for continued research funding, noting that lung health research is currently “on life support” despite lung conditions being the third biggest cause of death in the UK.
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, welcomed the potential of the new intervention. “Any new interventions that may help patients manage their symptoms more easily and in a safe and effective way woudl be welcome,” she stated. ”The prospect of a monthly injection, rather than daily tablets, may also be a more manageable treatment option for some patients.” She stressed the importance of careful assessment of the findings as clinical guidelines are updated to ensure patient safety and benefit.
