Benralizumab and mepolizumab show difference in asthma exacerbation rates
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Key takeaways:
- 31% of patients taking benralizumab and 33% of those taking mepolizumab also used daily oral corticosteroids.
- Most exacerbations occurred within 5 months of treatment.
BOSTON — Patients taking benralizumab experienced more asthma exacerbations than patients taking mepolizumab, according to an abstract presented at the CHEST Annual Meeting.
This study compared asthma exacerbation (AE) rates between mepolizumab (Nucala, GSK), which is an IL-5 inhibitor, and benralizumab (Fasenra, AstraZeneca), which is an IL-5 receptor inhibitor, in patients with severe asthma and elevated blood eosinophil counts, Sanjana Ramakrishnan, MBBS, internal medicine resident at Rochester Regional Health, and colleagues wrote.
This retrospective study used a cohort of 173 severe asthma patients receiving either benralizumab (n = 92) or mepolizumab (n = 81) to manage symptoms. Researchers conducted a chart review to analyze the number of AEs that occurred in patients while taking either medication. They defined an AE as an asthma event that needed treatment with antibiotics and/or steroids in an outpatient setting, inpatient setting, emergency department and ICU. Use of daily oral corticosteroids and time in months to exacerbation were also examined.
Within the benralizumab group, 65% (n = 60) of patients experienced an AE, whereas in the mepolizumab group, 39% (n = 32) experienced an AE (P = .001).
Patients were found to have similar rates of daily oral corticosteroid use equivalent to 1 mg of prednisone or more, with 31% taking an oral corticosteroid in the benralizumab group and 33% in the mepolizumab group.
Among patients who experienced exacerbations, an AE was experienced within 5 months of treatment by 36% of patients in the benralizumab group and 40% in the mepolizumab group. Also, an AE occurred within 11 to 15 months of treatment in 5% of benralizumab patients and 3% of mepolizumab patients.
Researchers concluded that patients treated with mepolizumab experienced fewer AEs, with the majority of AEs occurring within 5 months of treatment initiation with the number decreasing as treatment went on. The difference in AEs could be due to drug compliance and existence of comorbid conditions, which warrant future research.