Braido (UniGe), ‘with a strong and long-lasting monoclonal reduction in asthma exacerbations’

2023-09-13 12:10:13

“Biologics are changing the history of asthma treatment. There were unmet needs in these patients, such as recurrent exacerbations or the use of oral corticosteroid, either in cycles or continuously, to address the patient’s needs. With these new drugs, including mepolizumab, a monoclonal antibody against interleukin 5, results that were completely unexpected until a few years ago are achieved: a drastic, important and persistent reduction in exacerbations over time”. Thus Fulvio Braido, director of the Respiratory Diseases and Allergy Clinic of the University of Genoa, on the occasion of the International Congress of the European Respiratory Society (Ers), underway in Milan until 13 September.

“After consecutive years of treatment – explains Braido – we have the necessary data to go beyond expectations: in the context of asthma control, for example, today we are starting to use the term remission. So we shift our goal for patients” which is no longer “to reduce, but to eliminate the use of the oral steroid, as the long-term side effects are definitely important. We are only at the beginning of a new story – underlines the expert – We are certainly able to modify the disease by controlling inflammation; we improve short- and long-term clinical outcomes; we improve the quality of life of patients and we are confident of bringing the patient into remission, not only from a physiological point of view, but also the attitudes that the patient had to implement to cope with severe asthma. There are in fact many fronts on which research is active – he concludes – and must continue”.