Asthma exacerbations are reduced for children and adolescents with exacerbation-prone eosinophilic asthma who are living in socioeconomically disadvantaged urban neighborhoods and receive mepolizumab therapy, according to
a study published in The Lancet. Daniel J. Jackson, MD, and colleagues conducted a randomized trial at nine urban medical centers in the United States involving children and adolescents aged 6-17 who lived in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods and had exacerbation-prone asthma and blood eosinophils of at least 150 cells/ µL. The researchers randomized 290 participants to mepolizumab or placebo injections once every 4 weeks plus guideline-based care for 52 weeks. Within the 52-week study period, mean asthma exacerbations were 0.96 and 1.30 with mepolizumab and placebo, respectively (rate ratio, 0.73). Treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in 29% and 11% of participants in the mepolizumab and placebo groups, respectively. No deaths were attributed to mepolizumab.
