COLUMBA study confirms Nucala’s safety profile

GlaxoSmithKline’s Nucala (mepolizumab) was first approved in 2015 to treat severe eosinophilic asthma. It is the only approved biologic therapy that targets Interleukin-5 and stops it from binding to its receptor, thus interfering with the inflammation pathway.

Safety data from the long-term COLUMBA study confirms the safety profile of treatment with Nucala to be similar to previous placebo-controlled studies, when patients received injections of the drug for an average of 3 years 6 months and up to 4 years 6 months. GSK said it also showed that patients with severe eosinophilic asthma, who were treated with Nucala, had significant reductions in asthma exacerbations and improvements in the control of their asthma symptoms. 78% of patients treated with GSK’s drug showed a reduction in blood eosinophils, and about 33% experienced no asthma attacks, despite entering the study with an average of 1.74 attacks per year.