Patients may benefit from adding omalizumab
(Xolair) to their asthma treatment if
they have persistent asthma that is not
being controlled. For the study, 419 patients
with acute asthma were randomly given
omalizumab or placebo for 28 weeks. All of
the participants were taking high doses of
inhaled corticosteroids plus long-acting
beta2 agonists, and two thirds were also
receiving controller medications, including
22% who were taking oral corticosteroids.
Reporting the findings during the recent
annual meeting of the American Academy
of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, the
researchers found that omalizumab was
linked with a 26% reduction in the rate of
clinically significant asthma exacerbations,
compared with placebo. Furthermore, the
medication considerably lowered the
occurrence of severe asthma attacks and
emergency room visits. Lead researcher
Phillip Korenblat, MD, said omalizumab led
to "meaningful improvement"in asthmarelated
quality of life. Omalizumab "should
be considered in this group of patients with
severe persistent asthma who continue to
have unmet needs despite the best available
therapy,"he added.