Mepolizumab for the reduction of exacerbations in severe eosinophilic asthma

ABSTRACT

Asthma affects over 300 million people worldwide and is severe in 10% of sufferers. Severe asthma is associated with greater morbidity and mortality particularly as a consequence of frequent exacerbations. Advances in approaches to phenotype the heterogeneity of severe asthma has established the importance of eosinophilic inflammation and emerging new therapies are broadly designed to target T2-mediated eosinophilic inflammation with the aim to reduce exacerbation frequency. Here, we summarize the evidence that eosinophilic asthma is an important pheno(endo)type and identifies a group at risk of exacerbations; that established therapies reduce exacerbations, particularly in eosinophilic severe asthma; and discuss the role of mepolizumab, an IL-5 neutralising monoclonal antibody therapy, in reducing exacerbations in severe eosinophilic asthma compared to established and other emerging therapies.

KEYWORDS:

• Mepolizumab
• interleukin-5
• asthma
• exacerbation
• eosinophils

Financial & competing interests disclosure

CE Brightling has received grants and/or consultancy via his institution from GSK, AZ/Medimmune, Roche/Genetech, Boehringer lnglheim, Chiesi, Novartis, Vectura, Pfizer. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.