In a Real-World Study, Most Patients with Severe Asthma Had Good Response to Biologics

Asthma biologics are an effective, but very expensive, treatment for patients with severe asthma. Danish researchers used a national registry to see how many patients achieve “remission” and which patient characteristics predict better responses.

About 500 patients who were starting biologic agents (targeting IgE, interleukin-5, or IL-4/13) for severe asthma were included. Clinical response was defined as a ≥50% reduction in annualized exacerbation rate and ≥50% reduction in maintenance oral corticosteroid doses. Clinical remission was defined as no exacerbations, no maintenance oral steroids, normal lung function, and good asthma control based on questionnaires.

After 12 months, 79% of patients had clinical response, and 24% of those patient…