Dupilumab reduces severe attacks in asthmatic children, finds study

Key findings of the study include:

• Over the course of 1 year, the investigators noted a 65% average reduction in rate of severe asthma attacks in the population who had received 100 mg of the investigative drug.
• The population who had received 200 mg saw a 59% average reduction.
• 0.24 (100 mg) and 0.34 (200 mg) events per year occurred in the dupilumab cohort versus 0.67 and 0.75 in placebo, respectively.
• For the dupilumab cohort, significant improvement in lung function was seen as early as week 2 and was sustained for up to week 52.
• At week 12, improvement in lung function compared to baseline increased by 10.15 and 10.53 percentage points.
• For the placebo group, the improvement was only 4.83 and 5.32 percentage points.
• A total of 83% in the dupilumab cohort experienced adverse events—versus 80% with placebo.
• The most common events were injection site reactions (18% dupilumab, 13% placebo), viral upper respiratory tract infections (12% dupilumab, 10% placebo), and eosinophilia (6% dupilumab, 1% placebo).