Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of Dupilumab in Patients With Persistent Moderate to Severe Eosinophilic Asthma

An asthma exacerbation was defined as the occurrence of any of the following: ≥30% reduction from baseline in morning PEF on 2 consecutive days; or ≥6 additional reliever puffs of albuterol or levalbuterol in a 24-hour period (compared to baseline) on 2 consecutive days; or deterioration of asthma, as determined by the investigator, requiring systemic steroid treatment, or an increase in inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) of ≥4 times the last dose received prior to discontinuation from the study, or hospitalization. The occurrence of asthma exacerbations by individual criteria are reported.

The time-to-asthma exacerbation was defined as the time from the date of randomization to the date of the first asthma exacerbation event; for participants without asthma exacerbation, it was censored at the end of treatment visit date. The median time to first asthma exacerbation was not estimated because the number of asthma exacerbations was too low in the Dupilumab arm. Therefore, alternative Kaplan-Meier statistics, the probability of asthma exacerbation at Week 4, 8 and 12, are presented as the descriptive measure statistics.

Composite asthma event was defined as a 30% or greater reduction from baseline in morning PEF on 2 consecutive days together with 6 or more additional reliever puffs of albuterol or levalbuterol in a 24-hour period (compared to baseline) on 2 consecutive days.

FEV1 is the amount of air which can be forcibly exhaled from the lungs in the first second of a forced exhalation.

The PEF is a participant's maximum speed of expiration, as measured with a peak flow meter. Peak flow testing for PEF was performed at home (morning and evening) while sitting or standing prior to using any medication (if needed) for asthma.

ACQ-5 questionnaire is a validated questionnaire comprising of 5 questions for asthma symptoms: woken at night by symptoms, wake in the mornings with symptoms, limitation of daily activities, shortness of breath, and wheeze. Participants were asked to rate their asthma symptoms during the previous week on a 7-point scale as 0=no impairment, 6=maximum impairment. ACQ-5 score is the mean of the 5 questions and range between 0 (disease totally controlled) and 6 (disease severely uncontrolled), a higher score indicated lower asthma control.

The SNOT-22 is a validated measure of health related quality of life in sinonasal disease. It is a 22 item questionnaire with each item assigned a score ranging from 0-5. The total score may range from 0 (no disease) -110 (worst disease), lower scores represent better health related quality of life.

AM (ante meridiem) symptom scoring system rates were participant's overall asthma symptoms experienced during the night. It ranges from 0 to 4 as: 0 = No asthma symptoms, slept through the night, 1= Slept well, but some complaints in the morning. No nighttime awakenings,2= Woke up once because of asthma (including early awakening),3= Woke up several times because of asthma (including early awakening), 4= Bad night, awake most of the night because of asthma.

PM (post meridiem) symptom scoring system rates were participant's overall asthma symptoms experienced during the day. It ranges from 0 to 4 as: 0=very well, no asthma symptoms, 1=one episode of wheezing, cough, or breathlessness, 2=more than one episode of wheezing, cough, or breathlessness without interference of normal activities, 3=wheezing, cough, or breathlessness most of the day, which interfered to some extent with normal activities, 4=asthma very bad, unable to carry out daily activities as usual.

Participants recorded every morning on awakening the number of asthma-related nocturnal awakenings requiring use of rescue medication that occurred during the previous night.

Number of Albuterol or Levalbuterol inhalations were recorded daily by the participants in their electronic diary as Albuterol or Levalbuterol was to be used only as needed for symptoms, not on a regular basis or prophylactically.