An injectable drug appears to be better than steroids at quelling asthma and COPD flare-ups Benralizumab did a better job reducing respiratory symptoms during attacks People taking the drug also went longer without needing to see a doctor or go to a hospital THURSDAY, Nov. 28, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Geoffrey Pointing says its hard to describe the distress of an or COPD flare-up. “Honestly, when you're having a flare up, it's very difficult to tell anybody how you feel - you can hardly breathe,” Pointing, 77, of Banbury, England, said in a news release.
But an existing injectable drug might make these attacks much less frightening, a new clinical trial has shown. The already-approved drug for asthma could replace steroid medications as a means of quelling asthma and COPD flare-ups, researchers report. Benralizabam, a monoclonal antibody, did a better job than steroids at reducing respiratory symptoms like coughing, wheezing, breathlessness and hacking up phlegm, according to trial results published in After three months of treatment, four times fewer people taking benralizumab had suffered an asthma or COPD attack, compared to people taking the steroid prednisolone.
“This could be a game-changer for people with asthma and COPD,” said lead researcher , chair of respiratory medicine for King’s College London. “Treatment for asthma and COPD exacerbations have not changed in fifty years despite causing 3.8 million deaths worldwide a year combined,” Bafadhel continu.