Astegolimab suppresses asthma exacerbation

Astegolimab, a human immunoglobulin G2 monoclonal antibody, can effectively and safely reduce asthma exacerbation rate (AER), a recent study has found.

Researchers conducted a placebo-controlled, double-blind, dose-ranging study including 502 adults with severe asthma. Astegolimab intervention was given at 70-mg (n=127), 210-mg (n=126), or 490-mg (n=122) doses every 4 weeks, while the remaining 127 were randomly assigned to receive placebo. The primary endpoint was AER at week 54.

A total of 266 asthma exacerbation episodes occurred over the 52-week treatment period. The percentage of patients in the 490-mg, 210-mg, and 70-mg dose groups who experienced such episodes was 31.1 percent, 37.3 percent, and 33.1 percent, respectively. In contrast, exacerbations arose in 42.5 percent of placebo participants.

The adjusted annualized AER in the 490-mg dose group was 0.42, corresponding to a 49-percent relative decrease compared with the placebo group (AER, 0.74; p=0.0049). The 70-mg group likewise saw a statistically significant relative reduction in AER vs placebo (0.47 vs 0.74; 36.9-percent decrease; p=0.0144).

Such significance was not documented for the 210-mg arm (AER, 0.58 vs 0.74; 21.9-percent decrease; p=0.1838).

Moreover, the risk of having an asthma exacerbation episode was significantly suppressed in the 490-mg (hazard ratio, 0.63, 95 percent confidence interval, 0.42–0.96; p=0.0326) arm. Similar reductions in risk were calculated for the 210-mg and 70-mg groups but fell short of significance.

Astegolimab was also safe, with only 50 serious adverse events (SAEs) occurring in 37 patients (7.4 percent). The number of participants with SAEs was comparable across groups. Two deaths were reported, both unrelated to the study drug.