Ärzte begrüßen Durchbruch bei Asthma- und COPD-Behandlung mit Benralizumab-Injektionen | Behandlung eosinophiler Exazerbationen von Asthma und COPD mit Benralizumab (ABRA): eine doppelblinde, doppelblinde, aktive, placebokontrollierte, randomisierte Studie

Highlights from the news report:

>A trial found offering patients an injection was more effective than the current care of steroid tablets, and cuts the need for further treatment by 30%.
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>The results, published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal, could be transformative for millions of people with asthma and COPD around the world.
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>Benralizumab is a monoclonal antibody that targets specific white blood cells, called eosinophils, to reduce lung inflammation. It is used as a repeat treatment for severe asthma at a low dose, but the trial found a higher single dose could be very effective if injected at the time of a flare-up.
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>Lead investigator Prof Mona Bafadhel, of King’s College London, said: “This could be a gamechanger for people with asthma and COPD. Treatment for asthma and COPD exacerbations have not changed in 50 years, despite causing 3.8m deaths worldwide a year combined.
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>“Benralizumab is a safe and effective drug already used to manage severe asthma. We’ve used the drug in a different way – at the point of an exacerbation – to show that it’s more effective than steroid tablets, which is the only treatment currently available.”
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>The trial involved 158 people who needed medical attention in A&E for their asthma or COPD attack.
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>…
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>One group received the benralizumab injection and dummy tablets. Another group received standard care of prednisolone steroids, 30mg daily for five days, and a dummy injection. The third group received the benralizumab injection and steroids.
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>After 28 days, respiratory symptoms of coughing, wheezing, breathlessness and sputum were found to be better in those on benralizumab, whether or not they were also on steroids. After 90 days, there were four times fewer people in the benralizumab group who failed treatment compared with those receiving steroids.
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>Treatment with the benralizumab injection also took longer to fail, meaning fewer visits to a GP or hospital for patients, researchers said. Furthermore, people also reported a better quality of life on the new regime.
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>Scientists said steroids could have severe side-effects such as increasing the risk of diabetes and osteoporosis, meaning switching to benralizumab could provide huge benefits.

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Journal link: [Treating eosinophilic exacerbations of asthma and COPD with benralizumab (ABRA): a double-blind, double-dummy, active placebo-controlled randomised trial](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(24)00299-6/fulltext)

Summary:

>Background: Exacerbations of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are important events and are associated with critical illness. Eosinophilic inflammation is a treatable trait commonly found during acute exacerbations of asthma and COPD. We hypothesised that for patients with eosinophilic exacerbations, a single injection of benralizumab, a humanised monoclonal antibody against interleukin-5 receptor-α, alone or in combination with prednisolone, will improve clinical outcomes compared with prednisolone, the standard of care.

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