Decreased Number of Uncontrolled Severe Asthma Patients while Need of OCS Reduction Remains: RWE Data Analysis in Germany 2022 vs 2019

<bold>Background:</bold> Despite the wide availability of guideline-conform treatment options in severe asthma (SA) and the treatment goal to achieve clinical remission, oral corticosteroids (OCS) are still common. After an initial real world data analysis in Germany in 2019, the current analysis was to track the extent to which the care situation has changed in 2022 vs 2019. <bold>Method:</bold> A retrospective analysis was performed using IQVIA™LRx (longitudinal anonymized prescription database) and the IQVIA™ Disease Analyzer (anonymized electronic medical records database). Uncontrolled asthma was defined as ≥2 high-dosed OCS prescriptions and/or ≥3 extemporal short-acting beta-2 agonist (SABA) prescriptions per year. To ensure longitudinal visualization 2019 and 2022 were (re) analyzed based on extended data and improved machine learning. The analysis was funded by GSK. <bold>Results:</bold> From 2019 to 2022 the number of uncontrolled SA patients decreased by 6.6k from 63.5k in 2019 to 56.9k in 2022. This occurred despite the overall GINA 4/5 cohort increased by 105k patients from 713k in 2019 to 818k in 2022. Furthermore, usage of OCS was analyzed in detail in the 2022 analysis. 79.8k SA patients received a cumulative dose of ≥500mg OCS per year (both high dose & maintenance, defined by strength & package) and 32k patients were treated with ≥2 high-dosed OCS bursts per year. <bold>Conclusion:</bold> In 2022, 56.9k SA patients had uncontrolled asthma and 79.8k received ≥500mg OCS per year, despite a dose of >500mg per year is associated with an increased likelihood of unwanted side effects. The results require further efforts to adjust the guideline-conform treatment and to reduce the use of OCS.