Tezepelumab safe drug for moderate to severe forms of asthma: NEJM

Asthma is a common lung problem. Between 5% and 10% of people with asthma suffer from severe symptoms and frequent asthma attacks even though they are on the maximum available treatment. While, Tezepelumab blocks a protein called thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) that promotes multiple inflammatory processes that have all been linked to asthma attacks, there have been no literature studies to review its effect to control severe or hard forms of the disease.

Dr. Andrew Menzies-Gow and colleagues from the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, England explained that this invention, tezepelumab, is yet another monoclonal antibody, but it targets an inflammatory protein thought to play an early role in many different types of asthma.

A number of monoclonal antibody medications called biologics have been crafted to target distinct asthma triggers as there are many different types of asthma brought on by many different triggers, therefore, the authors conducted the present phase 3 clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of tezepelumab in quelling severe asthma among patients who had widely varying causes of their shortness of breath.

Tezepelumab was tested in more than 1,000 people, with about half randomly assigned to receive an inactive placebo and the other half receiving monthly 210 mg injections of the drug. The trial participants were chosen to reflect the different causes of severe asthma.

The following results were seen-

1. After a year's treatment, patients on tezepelumab experienced fewer asthma attacks and better lung function, asthma control, and health-related quality of life than those on placebo.
2. People with a low eosinophil count had a 41% reduced rate of asthma attacks, while those with a high count had a 70% reduction.
3. People affected by seasonal allergies had a 58% reduction in asthma attacks, while asthmatics not sensitive to allergens had a 51% reduction.

Therefore, the authors concluded that "Tezepelumab has proved to be a safe drug with no significant side effects."