FDA approves Injectable drug for uncontrolled Asthma

By Dr Deepu
The Food and Drug Administration approved Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.’s Cinqair (reslizumab) to adults who have treat severe asthma attacks despite taking other medication.It can be used with other asthma medicines for the maintenance treatment of severe asthma in patients aged 18 years and older.
        The drug is “given by injection every four weeks” and works by “reducing blood levels of eosinophils, a white blood cell that contributes to asthma”.
Cinqair is administered once every four weeks via intravenous infusion by a health care professional in a clinical setting prepared to manage anaphylaxis. Cinqair is a humanized interleukin-5 antagonist monoclonal antibody produced by recombinant DNA technology in murine myeloma non-secreting 0 (NS0) cells. Cinqair reduces severe asthma attacks by reducing the levels of blood eosinophils, a type of white blood cell that contributes to the development of asthma.

The safety and efficacy of Cinqair were established in four double-blind, randomized, placebo‑controlled trials in patients with severe asthma on currently available therapies. Cinqair or a placebo was administered to patients every four weeks as an add-on asthma treatment. Compared with placebo, patients with severe asthma receiving Cinqair had fewer asthma attacks, and a longer time to the first attack. In addition, treatment with Cinqair resulted in a significant improvement in lung function, as measured by the volume of air exhaled by patients in one second.

Cinqair can cause serious side effects including allergic (hypersensitivity) reactions. These reactions can be life-threatening. The most common side effects in clinical trials for Cinqair included anaphylaxis, cancer, and muscle pain.