Baseline clinical factors and blood eosinophil counts can help identify asthmatic patients who may be responsive to benralizumab, according to research published in the European Respiratory Journal.
The study pooled data from the SIROCCO and CALIMA Phase III studies, and assessed 2,295 patients aged 12–75 years with severe, uncontrolled asthma.
Patients receiving medium-to-high-dosage inhaled corticosteroids plus long-acting β2-agonists were randomised at 1:1:1 to also receive benralizumab subcutaneously every 8 weeks or every 4 weeks, or to receive placebo.
Baseline factors that influenced benralizumab efficacy were evaluated, including oral corticosteroid use, nasal polyposis, pre-bronchodilator forced vital capacity (FVC) <65% predicted, prior year exacerbations, and age at diagnosis. The primary efficacy outcome was annual exacerbation rate. Secondary outcomes were changes in pre-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second, total asthma symptom score and Asthma Control Questionnaire-6 score at treatment end relative to baseline.
The researchers found that response to treatment with benralizumab every 8 weeks enhanced with each baseline factor for all patients, and those with ≥300 eosinophils/μL relative to the overall population.
Further, oral corticosteroid use, nasal polyposis, and FVC <65% of predicted were associated with greater responsiveness to treatment with benralizumab every 8 weeks, and for reduced exacerbation rate for patients with <300 eosinophils/μL.
The authors note that further analysis with a larger number of patients would be needed to confirm these results.