Biologics in the treatment of Severe Asthma

Abstract

At present, asthma is one of the major chronic respiratory diseases that distorts the daily life of nearly 300 million people around the globe and almost 5–10% of these people experience severe or uncontrolled asthma. Asthma is a condition in which the airways undergo chronic inflammation resulting in wheezing and difficulty in breathing. It is predominantly triggered due to an irritant or an allergen, virus exposure, exercise and emotional stress. Contemporary treatment of asthma includes inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) with montelukast or theophylline as additional controllers and oral corticosteroids and inhaled long-acting beta 2 agonists (LABA) are administered in case of insufficient control of symptoms. The advent of biologics became pivotal since the conventional treatment alternatives were ineffective in the control of severe asthma. Omalizumab, mepolizumab, reslizumab, benralizumab, dupilumab and tezepelumab are the biologics that have been implemented successfully in treating severe asthma patients. This enabled patient specific, safe and effective treatment for asthmatics.