GlaxoSmithKline’s mepolizumab shows benefits in newly-published study

GlaxoSmithKline has announced the publication of clinical trial data that demonstrates the safety and efficacy of its IL-5 antagonist therapy mepolizumab.

Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the study compared the performance of mepolizumab to placebo as an add-on therapy in patients with relapsing or refractory eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA).

Patients treated with mepolizumab were shown to have a significantly greater accrued time in remission over the 52-week treatment period compared to placebo, with 28 percent of patients on mepolizumab achieving remission for at least 24 weeks, versus three percent on placebo.

In addition, a higher proportion of patients in the mepolizumab group were shown to be in remission at both weeks 36 and 48 compared to the placebo group, with many achieving remission within the first 24 weeks remaining so until week 52.

Steve Yancey, vice-president and medicines development lead for mepolizumab at GlaxoSmithKline, said: "The success of this study is a testament to the hard work of the GlaxoSmithKline team, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the investigators, and we thank all the patients whose participation enabled the study to proceed."

EGPA is a rare disease characterised by widespread inflammation in the walls of small blood vessels, which can affect multiple organ systems, leading to fatigue, fever and weight loss.

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