Monoclonal Antibodies Reduce Exacerbation Rates in Type 2 Asthma

Monoclonal antibodies reduced exacerbation rates in severe persistent eosinophilic asthma, according to authors of a study.

Researchers searched PubMed and Embase for phase 2 and phase 3 randomized clinical trials with monoclonal antibodies targeting key mediators of type 2-associated asthma that took place between 2019 and 2021. This data was used to update the authors’ previous meta-analysis covering studies published from 2005 to 2018.

“Five-hundred and sixty-six publications have been identified, of which 6 recent trials (on top of 30 previously identified) involving mepolizumab, benralizumab, reslizumab and dupilumab met our inclusion criteria,” stated authors of the study.

Due to a lack of head-to-head trials in the existing literature, authors of the study performed an arm-based network meta-analysis including 19 randomized controlled trials to compare exacerbation rates of the different treatments.

Per the analysis, benralizumab significantly reduced the risk of exacerbations compared to the pooled placebo in their network meta-analysis with a median effect difference of -.520, 95% CI (-1.010 to -.048).

“No biological showed superiority over the others emphasizing the need for clearly defined endotypes indicating those patients who will optimally benefit for each treatment,” concluded the authors.

Reference:
Edris A, Lahousse L, Monoclonal antibodies in type 2 asthma: an updated network meta-analysis. Minerva Med. 2021; 112(5):573-581 doi:10.23736/S0026-4806.21.07623-0.