Clinical trials have shown that a monthly injection may allow people with severe asthma to stop taking daily steroid tablets.
More than 260 million people It is believed that asthma affects people all over the world. While most can control their asthma with inhalers to treat immediate symptoms and preventative measures to reduce inflammation, people with the most severe form of asthma often also take daily doses of oral corticosteroids.
But long-term use is associated with serious health conditions, including osteoporosis, diabetes and increased vulnerability to infections.
Now international clinical trial found that participants who received injections tezepelumab every four weeks they could reduce or even stop taking steroids without any side effects.
Tezepelumab, also known as Tezspire and made by AstraZeneca, binds to and blocks a protein associated with airway inflammation.
National Institute Health and Care Excellence approved the drug in 2023 as an add-on maintenance treatment for patients over 12 years of age whose asthma is not effectively controlled by conventional medications.
The Wayfinder study, led by King's College London, involved just under 300 adults with severe, uncontrolled asthma who took 5–40 mg of steroid tablets daily.
Patients from 11 countries, including the UK, US, France, Germany, Mexico and Spain, received tezepelumab every month.
After a year of treatment, more than half of the participants stopped taking steroid medications altogether without exacerbating their asthma, while nearly 90% reduced their steroid use to low doses. The third stopped taking steroids after six months.
Symptoms of asthma include coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and chest tightness. Up to 10% of asthmatics have severe disease, and in the most severe cases it can be fatal.
The study results, published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine and presented at the winter meeting of the British Thoracic Society, also showed that tezepelumab significantly improved asthma symptoms, lung function and overall quality of life. Two-thirds of the patients did not experience asthma attacks during the study.
Lead author of the study, Professor David Jackson, who is an expert in respiratory medicine at King's College London and clinical director of the asthma unit at Guy's and Royal Brompton hospitals, said: “Because tezepelumab also suppresses allergy-related symptoms as well as improving chronic rhinosinusitis, the results are particularly interesting for patients with severe asthma who suffer from both upper and lower airway symptoms.”
Responding to the findings, Dr Samantha Walker, Director of Research and Innovation at Asthma + Lung UK said: “This is an incredibly encouraging development for the future of asthma treatment and has the potential to transform the lives of people with severe asthma.
“It is vital that research into new treatments continues, but we know that funding for lung health research is currently being kept at the expense of life support, despite lung disease remaining the third leading cause of death in the UK. Studies like this show the positive impact that research can have on delivering potentially life-changing treatments for people with asthma and other lung diseases.”
Professor Camila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said: “Any new interventions that can help patients manage their symptoms more easily, safely and effectively will be welcomed.
“The prospect of monthly injections rather than daily pills may also be a more acceptable treatment option for some patients.
“As with any new research, it is important that the results are carefully assessed and considered as clinical recommendations that GPs use in their daily practice, which are developed and updated based on the latest evidence to ensure safety and benefit for patients.”
