A highly effective drug for a debilitating lung disease is set to become the first new treatment for the condition in more than a decade.
The drug dupilumab has been shown to significantly improve the lives of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, also known as COPD.
Research published this year found that patients taking dupilumab saw a one-third reduction in uncomfortable symptoms such as shortness of breath and chest infections compared with existing treatments.
Last week, UK drug safety officials approved dupilumab for use, meaning it will now be available privately, and experts predict the NHS will also give it the green light within a year.
Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock in Star Trek, was one of the three million people who die each year worldwide from the disease.
“In my 20-plus years of practice, there have been limited advances for patients struggling with the effects of uncontrolled COPD,” says Professor Surya Bhatt, a pulmonary specialist at the University of Alabama.
‘Dupilumab reduced symptoms to an extent never seen before.’
UK charities are hailing the drug as a major breakthrough. “It is incredibly positive that new treatments are being developed and undergoing clinical trials, and may soon be available to people in the UK,” said Dr Andrew Whittamore, clinical director of Asthma + Lung UK.
Around 1.4 million people in the UK have COPD. The disease occurs when the lungs and airways become damaged and inflamed.
It is usually associated with smoking or prolonged exposure to certain types of harmful chemicals or industrial dust. However, in some cases, patients may develop COPD without a clear reason.
The first symptoms are a persistent cough, excessive mucus production and difficulty breathing, which can disrupt sleep.
Over time, COPD increases the risk of potentially life-threatening respiratory infections. NHS patients are often offered specialist inhalers that reduce inflammation.
Lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking, exercising regularly and staying up to date on vaccinations are also recommended.
However, studies show that these measures only marginally slow the progression of the disease.
There is no cure and patients’ symptoms progressively worsen. Approximately half of COPD patients do not survive more than five years after diagnosis.
One in five people wait more than a year to be diagnosed with chronic lung disease, new research from Asthma + Lung UK reveals
Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock in Star Trek, was one of the three million people who die each year worldwide from the disease.
He died in 2015 at the age of 83, one year after being diagnosed, having quit smoking 30 years earlier.
In the UK, 30,000 people die each year as a result of COPD.
Dupilumab is administered intravenously every two weeks in the hospital for one year in combination with three different inhalers.
The drug works by blocking two proteins in the body, interleukin-4 and interleukin-13, which are linked to harmful inflammation.
Research presented last week at the European Respiratory Society Congress in Austria found that as well as reducing severe symptoms, dupilumab improved overall lung function and quality of life.
While it’s too early for researchers to know exactly how much longer COPD patients taking dupilumab live, experts say it’s almost certain that, because of the reduction in dangerous infections, the effect is significant.
Dupilumab for COPD is being reviewed by the NHS spending watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, with a decision expected within the next year. It is already available in the NHS for the treatment of a number of inflammatory conditions, including severe asthma and eczema.
Experts say the drug is a major step towards breaking “endless cycles of severe symptoms.”
“I didn’t expect the results we got in the trial. They are incredible compared to what is already on the market,” says Dr. Christian Gessner, a lung expert at the University of Leipzig who led the landmark study.
‘It’s really important because as well as working for people with uncontrolled COPD, dupilumab also works as an add-on therapy alongside medicines that are already helping patients, reducing those symptoms, improving lung function and increasing quality of life.’
One patient who could benefit from dupilumab treatment is Felicity Payne, 67, from Eastbourne, Sussex. The former teacher and grandmother was diagnosed with COPD eight years ago, when she was a non-smoker, after feeling “short of breath all the time” and suffering repeated infections.
Doctors have been unable to find an effective treatment for Felicity.
He also suffered long-term side effects from using a steroid-based inhaler.
After trying five different medications, she says, “I’m looking forward to the new treatments. The developments are definitely promising.”
“It’s fantastic that there’s going to be a new way of doing things as nothing I’ve tried has worked. I know someone who’s on the dupilumab trial and it was amazing. It’s given her her life back so I can’t wait for it to come along.”