Dupilumab only works in people with type 2 inflammation
Dupilumab is the first and only biologic drug that reduces the number of lung attacks in people with COPD. This reduction is considerable: thirty percent after one year. Lung function and quality of life also improve. Unfortunately, the drug does not work for everyone.
Dupilumab only works in people with type 2 inflammation. This is the case for about twenty to forty percent of people with COPD.
Dupilumap is one biological. Biologicals (biological antibody) are medicines that are (partly) made from natural proteins. They inhibit a step in the inflammatory process. “This study showed that dupilumab can reduce the vicious cycle of lung attacks and lung function decline in people with uncontrolled COPD. The drug can also improve breathing,’ says researcher Surya Bhatt of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “I have people with uncontrolled COPD struggled with the debilitating symptoms of this disease for far too long. Current treatment options provide only limited improvement,’ he says.
‘This is very good news! It is the first time that a biological seems to work in a proportion of people with COPD. Professor Huib Kerstjens
Research
Scientists conducted research with nearly 1000 participants. These are (former) smokers with moderate to severe COPD and two additional characteristics: many allergic inflammatory cells in the blood and often lung attacks. During the study, half of them received the biological as an injection for 52 weeks. The other half received a placebo: a drug that does not contain any active ingredients. The participants did not know whether they received the real drug or the placebo. Compared to the placebo, dupilumab reduced the number of lung attacks by thirty percent. ‘This is very good news because it is the first time that a biological in COPD seems to work in a proportion of people with COPD!’ says Professor Huib Kerstjens, pulmonologist at the UMCG.
Not yet available
The people for whom this drug works: people with COPD who have many lung attacks and allergic inflammatory cells in their blood (despite maximum inhalation medication), will unfortunately have to wait for the time being until the drug is available to them. First, it must be approved by agencies that control the quality of medicines. It takes time. In addition, the drug is still very expensive. But as it appears to work for more and more people, the price is likely to go down in the future. Once available, it will need to be injected every other week on an ongoing basis. ‘That is a real disadvantage,’ says Professor Huib Kerstjens, ‘although we know from the asthma world that people can learn it themselves fairly quickly and can do it at home.’
The findings from this study were published in May 2023 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Bron: Lung fund
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2023-08-01 08:00:06
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