Asthma UK welcomes the recommendation to provide a new severe asthma treatment on the NHS and urges its speedy adoption.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) announced its recommendation, a decision welcomed by Asthma UK.
Reslizumab is the latest of a new wave of monoclonal antibody treatments designed to treat a specific type of asthma called severe eosinophilic asthma.
This involves an inflammation of the airways linked to a particular type of white blood cell (eosinophils) and is one of the most debilitating forms of the condition.
Of the 5.4 million people living with asthma in the UK, severe asthma has a devastating impact on approximately 250,000 who do not respond to conventional inhalers.
This struggle for breath can destroy daily lives, causing long periods off work or school, time in hospital and even death.
Treatment options for these people are extremely limited, with most relying on high-dose steroids such as oral corticosteroids, and even with these medications, their asthma is hard to control.
The side effects of the drugs available can leave people with severe asthma with other long term health problems, including diabetes and osteoporosis so new treatments are urgently needed.
Reslizumab has the potential to reduce reliance on high doses of corticosteroids which have unpleasant and harmful side effects in the long term.
Kay Boycott, Chief Executive of Asthma UK, said: “Reslizumab has the potential to dramatically improve the quality of life for some people living with severe asthma and we are delighted that it has been recommended for use on the NHS.
“New monoclonal antibody treatments, which have shown success in clinical trials are likely to be effective in treating around 30-40% of those living with severe asthma, so it is imperative that they are made available.
“While today’s news is an encouraging step forward, it’s important to note that these treatments will only benefit a certain group of people. There remain many thousands more for whom no effective treatments are available. More research is needed so that in the future all people with severe asthma will have an effective treatment option.”
Case study
Nichola Duane, 40, Whalley, Lancashire
Our patient representative Nichola Duane spoke to the NICE committee about her own experience with severe asthma.
Nichola was first diagnosed with asthma just after her 20th birthday. For the first four years after her diagnosis she was in and out of hospital every three to four weeks.
Her severe asthma diagnosis meant she had to stop playing hockey and rugby, leave her job as a nursery teacher and move back in with her parents.
Speaking about the NICE decision, she said: “I’m really excited that Reslizumab has been recommended as a new severe asthma treatment on the NHS.
“For people like me this is a life-changer, being able to lower the dosage of steroids I have to take would completely enhance my life because the side effects I experience would lessen. I’m on a high dose of steroids and as a result I have experienced side effects such as diabetes.
“At the moment I have to make a 150-mile round trip to hospital every two weeks for treatment, but the new monoclonal antibody treatments are designed to be taken once a month which would free up my time and have a huge impact on my life.”
