Asthma :: Xolair – omalizumab – humanised antibody for allergic asthma

Xolair? (omalizumab) add-on therapy significantly reduces attacks in patients with severe allergic asthma. Separate analysis shows first humanised antibody for allergic asthma reduces dependence on steroids to manage attacks.

Data from seven clinical studies presented at the World Allergy Congress in Germany demonstrate that in patients with severe allergic asthma who require treatment with oral corticosteroids – indicating that they have a more severe form of the disease – Xolair? (omalizumab) significantly reduced the rate of severe asthma attacks and emergency medical visits.1

A further analysis of results from two of the studies presented at the congress shows that Xolair improved asthma control in patients with moderate to severe allergic asthma, and reduced their reliance on bursts of oral corticosteroid to manage acute asthma exacerbations (or ‘attacks’).2 The need for steroid bursts is an important indicator of asthma control, and high use of systemic steroids, coupled with frequent asthma exacerbations, is associated with increased complications including hospital visits and steroid side-effects.

The data were presented as experts in the field of asthma and allergy met to discuss the ongoing challenge of managing severe allergic asthma, and the potential role of the first-in-class anti-IgE therapy Xolair in offering improved symptom control to patients who live with significant risk of hospitalisation and potentially life-threatening attacks. A file for the approval in Europe is being considered by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), which is expected to announce a decision later this year.

Prof. Ulrich Wahn of the Charit? Virchow-Klinikum in Berlin, Germany, and President of the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), said that anti-IgE therapy could prove a valuable addition to current treatment options. “In some cases it is impossible to control the symptoms of severe allergic asthma, even with recommended treatment regimens. For such patients, asthma can have serious impact on their health and affect their quality of life on a daily basis. These data demonstrate that Xolair offers the potential to achieve a significant improvement in control, and to improve the lives of patients who continue to suffer from this debilitating disease.”

Xolair offers a novel therapeutic approach to the control of asthma by targeting a root cause of allergic disease. It blocks the action of the IgE antibody, responsible for initiating the cascade of inflammatory symptoms such as airway constriction, mucous production, wheezing and shortness of breath. Xolair is effective even in the most difficult-to-treat patients whose condition remains poorly-controlled despite receiving the best available therapy.


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