VIDEO: Switching biologics ‘irrationally’ may be associated with worse asthma outcomes

In this Healio video exclusive, Nicola A. Hanania, MD, MS, highlights presentations from the CHEST Annual Meeting discussing biologic choice — particularly tezepelumab — in patients with severe asthma.

When starting a patient on a biologic, current guidelines suggest a trial period of 3 to 6 months, during which it is reassessed whether the patient should continue or switch the biologic based on outcome measures, including symptoms, exacerbations, health care utilization and quality of life, according to Hanania, professor of medicine and director of the Airways Clinical Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine.

“I think that’s a good approach, and I think that reassures us that we shouldn’t be going in and switching these biologics irrationally, and maybe a better choice [is] to pick the right one from the very beginning because switching and stopping can actually be associated with worse outcomes,” Hanania, who is also the clinical sciences representative for the Baylor College of Medicine Faculty Senate, told Healio.

References:

Chen S. Clinical outcomes and healthcare utilization in patients with severe asthma who continued, switched or stopped biologic therapy: results from the CLEAR study. Presented at: CHEST Annual Meeting; Oct. 16-19, 2022; Nashville, Tennessee.

Lugogo NL. PASSAGE: a phase 4, single-arm, open-label study to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of tezepelumab in patients with severe asthma, including under-represented groups. Presented at: CHEST Annual Meeting; Oct. 16-19, 2022; Nashville, Tennessee.

Menzies-Gow A. WAYFINDER: a phase 3b, single-arm study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tezepelumab in reducing OCS use in OCS-dependent patients with severe asthma. Presented at: CHEST Annual Meeting; Oct. 16-19, 2022; Nashville, Tennessee.

For more information:

Nicola A. Hanania, MD, MS, can be reached on Twitter: @Hananianick.