posted on 2018-03-28, 02:06authored byAnthony Markham
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Funding: The preparation of this review was not supported by any external funding.
Conflicts of interest: Anthony Markham is a salaried employee of Adis/Springer, is responsible for the article content and declares no relevant conflicts of interest.
Additional information about this Adis Drug Review can be found here.
Abstract
Kyowa Hakko Kirin, AstraZeneca and subsidiaries are developing benralizumab (Fasenraä) – a fully humanised anti-interleukin-5 receptor alpha chain (IL-5Ra) monoclonal antibody – as a treatment of severe eosinophilic asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Eosinophilia is a characteristic of certain asthma and COPD phenotypes and depletion of eosinophils has demonstrated therapeutic benefit. Benralizumab was recently approved by the US FDA as add-on maintenance therapy for patients with severe asthma who have an eosinophilic phenotype. This article summarizes the milestones in the development of benralizumab leading to this first approval for the treatment of severe eosinophilic asthma. Access to the full article can be found here.