Asthma, Author Interviews, Immunotherapy / 18.09.2020
Asthma: Monoclonal Antibody Dupixent Demonstrates Sustained Improvement in Moderate to Severe Disease
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Michael Wechsler, M.D., M.M.Sc.
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Wechsler is Director of the National Jewish Cohen Family Asthma Institute in Denver Colorado and principal investigator of the Dupixent® (dupilumab) Phase 3 open-label extension trial.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly explain how Dupilumab differs from other medications of asthma? What are the advantages over steroids, inhalers etc.?
Response: Asthma is a chronic, progressive disease driven in part by underlying inflammation and requires long-term control of symptoms. Over time, this chronic inflammation can lead to a decline in lung function.
The Phase 3 open-label extension trial evaluated long-term safety and efficacy of Dupixent treatment in adults and adolescents with moderate-to-severe asthma who had previously participated in a controlled Dupixent clinical trial, including three pivotal trials that lasted between 24 and 52 weeks. With more than 2,200 patients enrolled, the Phase 3 LIBERTY ASTHMA TRAVERSE open-label extension trial is the largest of a biologic medicine ever conducted in asthma.
Dupixent is a biologic therapy that works differently from existing therapies that treat asthma. Dupixent is a fully-human monoclonal antibody that inhibits the signaling of the interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-13 (IL-13) proteins. Data from Dupixent clinical trials have shown that interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-13 (IL-13) are key drivers of the type 2 inflammation that plays a major role in asthma. It is the only biologic to demonstrate sustained improvements in lung function and asthma exacerbations across a broad patient population with type 2 inflammation. Dupixent is not an immunosuppressant.
(more…)
