‘Game changer’ asthma pill sees significant reduction in severe symptoms
pharmafile | August 8, 2016 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Fevipiprant, Novartis, asthma, university of Leicester
A study at the University of Leicester has found that Fevipiprant (QAW039), the first new asthma pill for nearly 20 years, has the potential to significantly reduce the severity of the condition.
“This new drug could be a game changer for future treatment of asthma,” commented Professor Chris Brightling, NIHR senior research fellow at the University of Leicester.
Fevipiprant is taken orally and acts as an antagonist of the prostaglandin D2 receptor 2 (DP2 or CRTh2).
The study was funded by Novartis, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and EU (AirPROM) with 61 people participating in the trial. Its aim was primarily to examine the effects on inflammation in the airway by measuring the sputum eosinophil count, an inflammation measurement of a white blood cell that increases in asthma and is used to assess the severity of the condition.
The results of the study found that the drug significantly reduced symptoms of the condition, improving lung function, reducing inflammation and repairing the lining of airways; over 12 weeks, the drug saw a reduction in the rate of those suffering from moderate to severe forms of the illness by 5.4% to 1.1% on average.
“A unique feature of this study was how it included measurements of symptoms, lung function using breathing tests, sampling of the airway wall and CT scans of the chest to give a complete picture of how the new drug works,” Professor Brightling continued. “Most treatments might improve some of these features of disease, but with Fevipiprant improvements were seen with all of the types of tests.”
Fevipiprant is currently being evaluated in late stage clinical trials to determine its efficacy of treatment for severe asthma.
Matt Fellows
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