Clinical benefit after OCS reduction with benralizumab for severe eosinophilic asthma

Novel analyses of the 6-month maintenance phase of the PONENTE trial, presented during the annual meeting of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) 2021, showed that patients with oral corticosteroid (OCS) dependent severe eosinophilic asthma (SEA) treated with benralizumab could reduce their daily OCS dosage without loss of asthma control. This resulted in a substantial improvement in quality of life (QoL). Furthermore, 55.5% of patients achieved normal adrenal function compared with 39.8% at initial testing 13, 14. Although OCS are effective in controlling symptoms of acute asthma attacks, cumulative, long-term use of OCS is associated with debilitating side effects that may include diabetes, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease 2-4. In addition, OCS dependency can lead to suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis and may consequently cause adrenal insufficiency (AI) 5-7. According to a cross-sectional observational study, 93.0% of patients with severe asthma suffer from one or more conditions linked to systemic corticosteroid exposure4. Therefore, OCS-sparing strategies are of key importance in the management of severe…