Monoclonal antibody treatments have transformed the lives of severe asthma patients. Yet, the lack of comparative trials and real-world usage data poses a challenge for clinicians.
Peninsula Health researcher Professor David Langton set out to fill this gap by evaluating and comparing the performance of Benralizumab and Mepolizumab treatments using real clinic data from two major Australian tertiary hospital asthma clinics.
Across a three year period, the study tracked the treatment outcomes of 204 patients (117 on Mepolizumab and 87 on Benralizumab). During this time, significant improvements in symptom scores, exacerbation frequency, and lung function were observed with both treatments.
95% of patients saw improvements in their Asthma Control Questionnaire score, and there was an 87% reduction in steroid-requiring asthma exacerbations. 57% of patients on maintenance oral prednisolone to control their asthma could stop within 12 months of monoclonal antibody initiation. Benralizumab’s impact on blood eosinophilia led to even better lung function and fewer exacerbations.
The study demonstrated the efficacy and safety of both treatments, but suggested Benralizumab had a more powerful effect.
The full research paper is available here.