New asthma drug targets severe symptoms
Omalizumab, which was licensed in the UK on 31 October, was developed specifically to treat people with allergic asthma whose symptoms are so bad that they cannot be controlled with existing medicines, and who are at an increased risk of needing emergency care for their condition.
The drug is novel in two important ways: how it is delivered and how it works to combat asthma symptoms.
Probably the most significant factor for people with asthma is that Omalizumab is given as an injection by a doctor or nurse, every two to four weeks. This will be welcomed by people with severe asthma symptoms, who in many cases have to take a cocktail of different medicines every day.
The new drug is also the first of its kind in the way it treats asthma symptoms. It targets the antibody immunoglobulin E (IgE), which is produced at high levels in people who have allergic asthma, and is what causes asthma symptoms. Omalizumab helps to balance the immune system by bringing down the levels of this antibody.
There are 5.2 million people with asthma in the UK, and while 90% can control their symptoms with a mixture of reliever and preventer medications, the remaining 10% experience persistent symptoms, even when they are receiving treatment at step four or higher of the British guideline on the management of asthma. Asthma UK's 2004 report 'Living on a Knife Edge' found that many people in these circumstances had a reduced quality of life to the point of living in fear that their next asthma attack would be their last.
Omalizumab has been licensed in the US for a year, and when used as an add-on therapy was found to reduce asthma exacerbations and emergency room visits, and to improve lung function and quality of life.
In the UK the drug will be prescribed only by hospital consultants, and will be given to people aged 12 years or over who have raised IgE levels, persistent daytime and nocturnal symptoms and have poor lung function.
'We welcome this new approach to the treatment and management of asthma,' said Martin Dockrell, Asthma UK's Assistant Director of Policy & Public Affairs. 'Although this treatment may only be suitable for a relatively small proportion of people with asthma, it will increase the treatment options for those whose asthma is particularly difficult to control.'
Omalizumab has not yet been approved by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the independent body that assesses treatments for use through the NHS. Asthma UK will be pressing for NICE to speed the appraisal for Omalizumab so that it can be made more widely available for people with asthma.
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Noi obiective de astm simptome severe de droguri - New asthma drug targets severe symptoms - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate