Real-life effectiveness of omalizumab in patients with severe persistent allergic (IgE-mediated) asthma: Pooled data from 3 UK centres

Omalizumab is approved as add-on therapy for patients (age ≥6 years; European Union) with uncontrolled severe persistent allergic (IgE-mediated) asthma. Few studies have reported on omalizumab's effectiveness on real-life outcomes in UK clinical settings. We report clinical outcomes in severe allergic asthma patients receiving omalizumab (150–600 mg q4wk or q2wk) at 3 UK centres (St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey; Bradford Royal Infirmary; Colchester Hospital). Data were compared for 2-years pre-omalizumab and for the most recent assessment following omalizumab initiation. Patients (n=52; age 18–74 years) received omalizumab for an average of 982 days (range: 112–3839). 86.4% patients responded to treatment at 16 weeks. Following omalizumab, hospital admissions/bed days, AE mean maintenance dose of OCS pre- and post-omalizumab was 12.6 and 5.7 mg/day (n=43). Overall, mean [SD] improvement in AQLQ score was +1.39 [1.80]. Asthma control also improved post-omalizumab, as shown by an overall increase in mean [SD] ACT of +7.29 [4.64]. Patients not receiving OCS at baseline (n=14) achieved higher mean [SD] AQLQ scores compared with those on OCS at baseline (n=29); 2.29 [1.23] vs 1.36 [1.77]. View this table: Results from this pooled analysis demonstrate the real-life effectiveness of omalizumab in a clinical setting, further supporting the efficacy of omalizumab shown in clinical trials.