Exacerbations, treatment patterns, utilization, and costs before and after initiating of benralizumab for the treatment of severe eosinophilic asthma.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the number of exacerbations, counts of eosinophils, and asthma-related symptoms 1 year before and after initiating benralizumab for the treatment of severe eosinophilic asthma.

Methods: Patients with prior exacerbations and newly initiating benralizumab were identified in the claims-based Healthcare Integrated Research Database. Claims were used to assess benralizumab treatment patterns, exacerbations, healthcare resource utilization, and other asthma medication used. Among a subset of patients, medical records were abstracted for Asthma Control Test (ACT) scores and asthma symptoms.

Results: There were 506 patients meeting inclusion/exclusion criteria for claims-based analyses and 123 for medical-record analyses. The number of patients experiencing exacerbations significantly decreased from baseline to follow-up (40% reduction, McNemar's  = 204.00,  < .001). The mean number of exacerbations also decreased from 3.2 (1.5) to 1.2 (1.4) (paired  = 24.45,  < .001; Cohen's  = 1.09). The effects were larger among patients with eosinophils ≥300 cells/µL. Among patients with an ACT available for baseline and follow-up ( = 47), there was a significant reduction in the number of patients with scores <19 (72% vs. 45%,  < .01).

Conclusions: Treatment with benralizumab resulted in fewer exacerbations, reduced utilization, and improved ACT scores. This study demonstrates that benralizumab is an effective treatment option for patients with severe eosinophilic asthma.