LONDON, May 23 (Reuters) - Novartis AG's Xolair allows patients with severe asthma to control symptoms while reducing steroid use, according to findings to be presented at the American Thoracic Society meeting in San Francisco on Wednesday.
The antibody drug, co-developed with Genentech Inc (NYSE:DNA - news) and Tanox Inc (Nasdaq:TNOX - news), and filed in the U.S. and EU for allergic rhinitis and asthma last June, prevents the release of inflammatory mediators including histamines and leukotrienes.
The study, details of which were released by University of Southampton researchers, involved 246 patients with symptoms that greatly affected their quality of life and required them to take high doses of inhaled corticosteroids.
Their average daily steroid dose was more than 1,500 micrograms even though 500 or more is likely to increase the risk of systemic side effects, such as bruising and osteoporosis.
By the end of the year-long trial, 60 percent of the 126 patients on Xolair had decreased their inhaled corticosteroid use to 500 micrograms or less per day, with 21 percent stopping altogether.
``These new data indicate that omalizumab (Xolair) could become an exciting new treatment option,'' said Stephen Holgate, Professor of Immunopharmacology at the University of Southampton school of medicine, who led the research... |
