First asthma treatment in 50 years found to tackle deadly attacks could be 'game changer'

Scientists discover benralizumab could tackle suffocating attacks for people with both asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

A first treatment has been found for chronic asthma in 50 years and could be “game changing” in preventing deadly attacks.

Scientists have discovered benralizumab could tackle suffocating attacks for people with both asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A breakthrough Lancet study shows an injection during a flare up was more effective than current standard care of steroid tablets, showing it cut the need for further treatment by 30%.

Lead investigator Professor Mona Bafadhel, of King's College London, said: "This could be a game-changer for people with asthma and COPD. Treatment for asthma and COPD exacerbations have not changed in 50 years, despite causing 3.8 million deaths worldwide a year combined. Benralizumab is a safe and effective drug already used to manage severe asthma. We've used the drug in a different way to show that it's more effective than steroid tablets, which is the only treatment currently available."

About 5.5 million Brits have asthma while an estimated three million people have COPD, a group of lung conditions that cause breathing difficulties, but two thirds of these are undiagnosed. Benralizumab is a monoclonal antibody, which are proteins made in a lab that bind to specific targets in the body. It targets specific white blood cells, called eosinophils, to reduce lung inflammation.

It is currently used by the NHS as a repeat treatment for severe asthma at a low dose, but a new trial at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust found a higher single dose is very effective if injected at the time of a flare-up. Researchers said benralizumab could also potentially be administered safely at home or in a GP practice, as well as in A&E.

First author Dr Sanjay Ramakrishnan, of the University of Western Australia, said: "Our study shows massive promise for asthma and COPD treatment. COPD is the third leading cause of death worldwide but treatment for the condition is stuck in the 20th century. We need to provide these patients with life-saving options before their time runs out."

The drug could be lifesaving intervention for the 50% of asthma attacks and 30% of COPD attacks which are “eosinophilic exacerbations” - meaning they involve a type of white blood cell. Eosinophils protect the body from allergens, parasites, foreign bacteria and they release enzymes during infections, allergic reactions and asthma attacks. The clinical trial recruited 158 people who needed medical attention in A&E for their asthma or COPD attack.

Patients were given a quick blood test to see what type of attack they were having, with those suffering one involving eosinophils being suitable for treatment. Participants were randomly split into three groups. One received the benralizumab injection and dummy tablets, another received standard prednisolone steroids and a dummy injection, and the third group received both the benralizumab injection and steroids.

After 28 days, respiratory symptoms of cough, wheeze, breathlessness and sputum were found to be better in people on benralizumab. And after 90 days, there were four times fewer people in the benralizumab group who failed treatment compared with those receiving steroids. Treatment with the benralizumab injection also took longer to fail, meaning fewer visits to a GP or hospital for patients. People also reported a better quality of life on the new regime.

Researchers said steroids can have severe side-effects such as increasing the risk of diabetes and osteoporosis and that switching to benralizumab could provide huge benefits.

Dr Samantha Walker, director at charity Asthma and Lung UK, said: "It's appalling that this is the first new treatment for those suffering from asthma and COPD attacks in 50 years, indicating how desperately underfunded lung health research is."

AstraZeneca provided the drug for the study and funded the research, but had no input into trial design, delivery, analysis or interpretation. The findings are published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal.