Antibody drug cost-effective for allergic asthma

By Will Boggs, MD

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The antibody drug omalizumab (Xolair) is cost-effective for treating allergic asthma that has not responded fully to steroid inhalers and other mediations, according to a report in the journal Allergy.

Omalizumab is the first licensed antibody drug shown to be effective for treating allergic asthma, the authors explain, and recent guidelines recommend its addition to steroid inhalers and other drugs for certain patients.

Sean D. Sullivan from University of Washington, Seattle, and Dr. F. Turk from Novartis Pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland reviewed published evidence regarding the cost-effectiveness of omalizumab in patients with persistent allergic asthma.

In seven studies of patients with predominantly severe persistent allergic asthma, the authors report, omalizumab was effective over a wide range of outcome measures, including asthma exacerbation rates and total emergency visit rates.

The findings suggest that in such patients omalizumab reduces asthma symptoms, flare-ups, and emergency room visits.

Moreover, the cost analysis suggested that use of omalizumab in patients with asthma not responding to other drugs was money well spent compared with other treatment interventions. The researchers caution, however, that there is some evidence that the drug is not cost effective when used in other patients with asthma.

Sullivan told Reuters Health that recommendations by the Global Initiative for Asthma should help doctors decide which patients are best suited for omalizumab therapy.

SOURCE: Allergy, June 2008.