- An open-label, single-arm study, OSMO, assessing GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK +0.7%) Nucala (mepolizumab) in asthma patients uncontrolled with Novartis (NVS +0.4%) and Roche's (OTCQX:RHHBY +1.5%) Xolair (omalizumab) showed a treatment benefit. The results were presented at the Allergy, Asthma & Immunology and World Allergy Organization Joint Congress in Orlando, FL.
- The study involved 145 patients who experienced at least two asthma exacerbations in the year prior to enrollment while receiving Xolair. They were switched to Nucala without a washout period and followed for 32 weeks.
- The trial achieved the primary endpoint of asthma control with clinically significant improvements as measured by a scale called ACQ-5.
- The rate of exacerbations requiring oral steroids was reduced by 64% versus the prior year. The rate of exacerbations requiring an emergency room visit or hospitalization was reduced by 69% versus the prior year.
- Blood eosinophils (type of white blood cell associated with asthma) were reduced by ~80% by week 4 and sustained until week 32.
- The FDA approved Nucala for severe asthma in November 2015.
- Now read: Undervalued And Attractive: Pick Up Novartis In 2018
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