Limited information is available on the clinical course of patients with severe asthma following discontinuation of biologic treatment. Therefore, a post hoc analysis was conducted in patients with severe eosinophilic asthma who participated in the COSMOS trial, where patients received mepolizumab for more than 1 year of continuous therapy. The objective of this post hoc analysis was to evaluate changes in the Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ-5) and blood eosinophil counts 12 weeks after the last administration of mepolizumab. Cessation of mepolizumab was associated with a rise in the blood eosinophil count and loss of asthma control after stopping therapy. These data suggest that patients with severe disease require extended and continuous treatment. Further studies evaluating longer duration of continuous treatment with mepolizumab could help understanding of whether changes in the presentation of the disease (disease modification) are possible with the use of biologics, such as mepolizumab.
Keywords: Asthma control; Blood eosinophils; Cessation of treatment; Severe eosinophilic asthma.