Treatment Improves Lung Function in Patients With Moderate to Severe Type 2 Asthma

Patients with moderate to severe type 2 asthma treated with dupilumab saw improvements in lung function independent of exacerbations and a reduced impact on lung function when experiencing a severe exacerbation, according to study findings published in Allergy.

In a phase 3 Liberty Asthma Quest study, researchers assessed the effect of dupilumab on forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV₁) in patients with moderate to severe asthma and elevated type 2 biomarkers.

Researchers examined changes from baseline in pre- and post-bronchodilator (BD) FEV₁ and 5-item Asthma Control Questionnaire scores in patients with elevated type 2 biomarkers at baseline (type 2-150/25: eosinophils ≥150 cells/μL and/or fractional exhaled nitric oxide [FeNO] ≥25 ppb; type 2-300/25: eosinophils ≥300 cells/μL and/or FeNO ≥25 ppb), stratified as exacerbators (≥1 severe exacerbation during the study) or non-exacerbators.

“In exacerbators and nonexacerbators, dupilumab increased pre-BD FEV₁ by week 2 vs placebo; differences were maintained to week 52 (type 2-150/25: LS mean difference (LSMD) vs placebo: 0.17 L (95% CI: 0.10-0.24) and 0.17 L (0.12-0.23); type 2-300/25: 0.22 L (0.13-0.30) and 0.21 L (0.15-0.28), in exacerbators and non-exacerbators, respectively (P < .0001),” wrote researchers.

Post-BD FEV₁ resulted in similar trends. Significantly greater improvements in post-BD FEV₁ were observed in dupilumab vs placebo from 0-42 days after first severe exacerbation in type 2-150/25 (LSMD vs placebo: 0.13 L [0.06-0.20]; P = .006) and type 2-300/25 (0.14 L [0.06-0.22]; P = .001) patients.

In both groups, the 5-item Asthma Control Questionnaire improvements were greater with dupilumab vs placebo.

Reference:
Papi A, Corren J, Castro M, et al. Dupilumab reduced impact of severe exacerbations on lung function in patients with moderate-to-severe type 2 asthma. Allergy. Published online July 28, 2022. doi:10.1111/all.15456