Study of the Steroid Sparing Effect of Xolair (Omalizumab) in Patients With Persistent Eosinophilic Bronchitis

Summary

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether addition of Omalizumab enables a reduction in the dose of prednisone in patients with asthma and eosinophilic bronchitis. This will be a double-blind placebo-controlled, 3-centre, randomized parallel group trial divided into two sequential study periods. Period 1: After establishing the minimum dose of prednisone to maintain asthma control and maintain sputum eosinophils \<3%, subjects will be randomized to either placebo or Omalizumab for 16 weeks (either once monthly for 4 months or every 2 weeks for 4 months). Period 2: standardised prednisone reduction at intervals of 4-weeks until there is a clinical and eosinophilic exacerbation or bothersome steroid withdrawal effects. If patients have an exacerbation, they will be treated with prednisone. This patient will continue on Omalizumab or placebo during the entire duration of the study but not continue the phase of steroid reduction.

Timeline

Start

2014-03

Primary completion

2017-09

Completion

2017-09

Publications

• Mukherjee M, Kjarsgaard M, Radford K, Huang C, Leigh R, Dorscheid DR, Lemiere C, Boulet LP, Waserman S, Martin J, Nair P. Omalizumab in patients with severe asthma and persistent sputum eosinophilia. Allergy Asthma Clin Immunol. 2019 Apr 3;15:21. doi: 10.1186/s13223-019-0337-2. eCollection 2019.

Drugs

Indications