Anti-IL5 therapy for severe asthma: Towards a MAB war?

The presence of eosinophilic inflammation is the most frequent clinical phenotype encountered in patients with severe asthma. Interleukin-5 (IL-5) is a pro-inflammatory cytoldne that plays a pivotal pathogenic role in eosinophilic asthma; it is involved in eosinophil differentiation, activation and tissue migration, and it is equally involved in eosinophil survival and the prevention of apoptosis. Several monoclonal antibodies (MABs) targeting IL-5 or its cellular receptor are currently being developed for the treatment of severe asthma. We discuss their mode of action and the results observed in recently published clinical trials. It seems that, generally, anti-IL-5 therapies have as their target a reduction of the frequency of asthma exacerbations and improvement of clinical and lung function parameters in selected patients with severe asthma and an eosinophilic phenotype. This new therapeutic class of drugs should certainly lead to improvement in the management of patients with persistent severe eosinophilic asthma who have not responded to currently available anti-asthmatic treatment. (C) 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.