Posted on 05/22/2013 10:06:51 PM PDT by neverdem
A new type of asthma drug meant to attack the underlying causes of the respiratory disease slashed episodes by 87 percent in a mid-stage trial, making it a potential game changer for patients with moderate to severe disease, researchers said on Tuesday.
"Overall, these are the most exciting data we've seen in asthma in 20 years," said Dr. Sally Wenzel, lead investigator for the 104-patient study of dupilumab, an injectable treatment being developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc and French drugmaker Sanofi.
The drug also met all its secondary goals, such as improving symptoms and lung function and reducing the need for standard drugs called beta agonists.
Although far larger trials will be needed to confirm findings from the "proof of concept" study, researchers expressed optimism. They noted that dupilumab has also shown the ability to tame atopic dermatitis, or severe eczema, an allergic condition that is not well controlled by current treatments.
Results of the 12-week asthma study are being presented on Tuesday at the annual scientific meeting of the American Thoracic Society in Philadelphia.
The medicine, if approved, could hold promise for patients with moderate to severe persistent asthma that is not well controlled by standard drugs.
"We have been treating asthma with sort of Band-Aid therapies that didn't get at the underlying causes," Wenzel said in an interview, adding that dupilumab could be an important step in going to the root of the problem.
The drug works by simultaneously blocking proteins that have been linked to inflammation, interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-13 (IL-13)...
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Dupilumab in Persistent Asthma with Elevated Eosinophil Levels
Inhibiting Interleukin-4 and Interleukin-13 in Difficult-to-Control Asthma
I have a son who’s asthmatic on the far end of severe. God willing this med will help.
Save
Dupilumab is a monoclonal antibody. I don’t think it will be cheap.
From the 2nd link:
“Rather, it shows that dupilumab is able to substitute inhaled glucocorticoids and LABAs(long acting beta agonists) in a specific subgroup of patients with asthma, but whether or not this drug has added value over treatment with inhaled glucocorticoids and LABAs in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma remains to be established. This is both clinically and biologically important, because inhaled glucocorticoids and LABAs target type 2 helper T cell (Th2) pathways, so we may need to look elsewhere to find the needed treatments for difficult-to-treat asthma.”
Glucocorticoids are steroids. You don’t want to use them unless you must, even the inhaled ones. I’m a doc. Good luck!
is he taking Advair/ (Along with a steroid rescue inhaler as needed?)
Advair is soem pretty good medicine to stave off attacks, however, he’d still need a rescue inhaler for when attacks do happen
I use Serevent to control my asthma, and nothing ticked me off more than when they took the aerosolized version off the market in order to “save the ozone layer.” I went from being asthma-free to “somewhat” asthma-free.
So far as this new treatment is concerned, I’d be leery about it until some long-term studies have been done.
PING
Of course, being a MAB derived drug, it will be hugely expensive. It will therefore fall outside of the preferred drug list of ObamaCare. No matter how effective it might be.
Regeneron will have to weigh the costs to get it through the FDA vs the likelihood of being a first line agent approved for use by Obama’s minions. God help those companies driven to innovate.
“I have a son who’s asthmatic on the far end of severe. God willing this med will help.”
As do I. Six medicines 3x a day for years and years. Six months ago, he started taking powdered magnesium. He now takes NO asthma meds and is running marathons. Please look into the anti inflammatory properties of magnesium. Google magnesium deficiency. We are nearly all deficient.
There could well be something worth investigating, but I prefer the peer reviewed literature. When I entered magnesium and asthma into PubMed's query box, I got 429 citations. I found this on the first page:
Magnesium Concentration in Acute Asthmatic Children
It's a small study, but for those who had exacerbations of asthma they found "Erythrocytic Mg levels were significantly lower during the acute asthma, and were negatively correlated with severity of exacerbation..." Erythrocytes are red blood cells. Mg is the abbreviation for magnesium.
Magnesium deficiency and asthma at PubMed gets 52 citations. Click on Review near the top of the left sidebar. There are 24 results, 23 abstracts including 3 free articles. I'd start there.
If you want to attempt a therapeutic trial of magnesium supplementation, it will more than likely be as a magnesium salt. Check its bioavailability and with your doc.
I can tell you it works. Unequivocally. It is a natural mineral and most people are deficient. If you dont want to try it and instead continue with high end severe asthma, that is your choice!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.