MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Frank Trudo, MD MBA Vice President, US Medical, Respiratory & Immunology AstraZeneca  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: PONENTE is a multicenter, open-label, single-arm, Phase IIIb trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of reducing daily oral corticosteroids (OCS) use after initiation of 30 mg dose of FASENRA (benralizumab) administered subcutaneously in adult patients with severe eosinophilic asthma on high-dose inhaled corticosteroids plus long-acting beta2-agonist and long-term use of OCS therapy with or without additional asthma controller(s). The trial expands on OCS-sparing data previously seen in the ZONDA Phase III trial by using a faster steroid tapering schedule in patients who did not experience adrenal insufficiency to reduce OCS use from higher doses. Compared to published trials of other biologics, PONENTE has a personalized OCS tapering schedule that allows for more rapid OCS tapering from higher OCS doses, followed by an assessment of the adrenal function as part of decision-making to manage the risk of adrenal insufficiency. PONENTE also has a longer maintenance phase (approximately 24-32 weeks), allowing assessment of the durability of OCS reduction. FASENRA is a monoclonal antibody that binds directly to IL-5 receptor alpha on eosinophils and attracts natural killer cells to induce rapid and near-complete depletion of eosinophils via apoptosis (programmed cell death). MedicalResearch.com: How is it administered?  Response: FASENRA is injected under your skin (subcutaneously) one time every 4 weeks for the first 3 doses, and then every 8 weeks. In 2019, FASENRA was approved in the US for self-administration in a single dose prefilled autoinjector, the FASENRA pen. (more…)