The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review Teva Pharmaceutical's Biologics License Application (BLA) for reslizumab, the company’s investigational humanized monoclonal antibody (mAb) which targets interleukin-5 (IL-5), for the treatment of inadequately controlled asthma in adult and adolescent patients with elevated blood eosinophils, despite an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)-based regimen.

“Despite currently available medicines, uncontrolled asthma remains a serious problem for patients, physicians and healthcare systems, highlighting the need for targeted new treatment options,” said Dr. Michael Hayden, president of global R&D and chief scientific officer at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. “The reslizumab BLA filing acceptance represents a significant milestone for Teva as we work toward serving a specific asthma patient population that is defined by elevated blood eosinophil levels and inadequately controlled symptoms despite standard of care therapy. In clinical trials, patients treated with reslizumab showed significant reductions in the rate of asthma exacerbations and significant improvement in lung function. If approved, we believe reslizumab will serve as an important new targeted treatment option to achieve better asthma control for patients with eosinophil-mediated disease.”

The BLA for reslizumab includes data from Teva’s phase III BREATH clinical trial programme. The programme consisted of four separate placebo-controlled Phase III trials involving more than 1,700 adult and adolescent asthma patients with elevated blood eosinophils, whose symptoms were inadequately controlled with inhaled corticosteroid-based therapies. Results from these studies demonstrated that reslizumab, in comparison to placebo, reduced asthma exacerbation rates by at least half and provided significant improvement in lung function and other secondary measures of asthma control when added to an existing ICS-based therapy. Common adverse events in the reslizumab treatment group were comparable to placebo and included worsening of asthma, nasopharyngitis, upper respiratory infections, sinusitis, influenza and headache. Two anaphylactic reactions were reported and resolved following medical treatment at the study site.

Results from the reslizumab BREATH programme were recently presented at the American Thoracic Society 2015 Annual Meeting and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology 2015 Annual Meeting, in addition to being published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. The BLA for reslizumab has been accepted for filing by the FDA for standard review, with FDA Regulatory Action expected in March 2016.

Reslizumab is an investigational humanized monoclonal antibody which targets interleukin-5 (IL-5). IL-5 is a key cytokine involved in the maturation, recruitment, and activation of eosinophils, which are inflammatory white blood cells implicated in a number of diseases, such as asthma. Elevated levels of blood eosinophils are a risk factor for future asthma exacerbations. Reslizumab binds circulating IL-5 thereby preventing IL-5 from binding to its receptor.

Asthma is a chronic (long term) disease usually characterized by airway inflammation and narrowing of the airways, which can vary over time. Asthma may cause recurring periods of wheezing (a whistling sound when you breathe), chest tightness, shortness of breath and coughing that often occurs at night or early in the morning. Without appropriate treatment, asthma symptoms may become more severe and result in an asthma attack, which can lead to hospitalization and even death.

Eosinophils are a type of white blood cell that are present at elevated levels in the lungs and blood of many asthmatics. Evidence shows that eosinophils play an active role in the pathogenesis of the disease. IL-5 has been shown to play a crucial role in maturation, growth and activation of eosinophils. Increased levels of eosinophils in the sputum and blood have been shown to correlate with severity and frequency of asthma exacerbations.