Tezepelumab in Real-Life Practice: Characteristics of Patients Commenced and Efficacy in a Nationwide, Danish Cohort of Patients With Severe Asthma.

BACKGROUND

Tezepelumab holds significant potential in severe asthma owing to its upstream target in the inflammatory cascade and could be an appropriate choice of biologic for different patient groups.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to characterize the patients prescribed tezepelumab during the first 2 years of the drug being available and illuminate its efficacy in a nationwide Danish cohort of patients with severe asthma.

METHODS

In this prospective observational study, we used data from the Danish Severe Asthma Register (DSAR). We categorized patients according to their previous biologic treatment as either biologic-naive or switchers, compared baseline characteristics, and investigated efficacy after 12 months of treatment.

RESULTS

Of the 273 patients initiated on tezepelumab, 171 (63%) were switchers. Biologic-naive patients had a median blood eosinophil count of 0.20 cells × 109/L and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) of 17 ppb. A total of 172 patients were included in efficacy analyses, and after 12 months of treatment, both biologic-naive patients and switchers showed significant improvements in maintenance oral corticosteroid use, symptoms, and reduced exacerbations by 69%. The majority of patients in both groups achieved a clinical response to treatment; however, a larger proportion of biologic-naive patients achieved clinical remission (35% vs 15%; P = .01).

CONCLUSIONS

Most patients initiating tezepelumab in real-life clinical practice were switchers, and the biologic-naive patients initiated had relatively low type 2 inflammatory biomarkers, highlighting the complexity of patients on tezepelumab. However, both groups showed a clinical response rate to treatment comparable with that seen in Danish patients initiated on other biologics.