Baseline characteristics of patients with severe eosinophilic asthma treated with benralizumab who reduced to anti-inflammatory reliever only vs high-, medium- or low-dose inhaled corticosteroid/formoterol: SHAMAL post-hoc analysis

In SHAMAL, patients (pts) with severe eosinophilic asthma controlled on benralizumab were randomised (3:1) to maintain or reduce high-dose inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)/formoterol (to medium-, low-dose or anti-inflammatory reliever [AIR] only). By Week (W)32, >90% of pts in the reduction arm reduced ICS/formoterol and maintained asthma control, with 61% reducing to AIR only. We assessed (post-hoc) baseline characteristics of pts in the reduction arm who reduced to AIR only vs pts using high-, medium- or low-dose ICS/formoterol at W32. Of pts with available data at W32, 72/119 reduced to AIR only and 47/119 were using high-, medium- or low-dose ICS/formoterol. A statistically significant difference between the two groups was observed only for median (min, max) Asthma Control Questionnaire-5 (ACQ-5) score (0.4 [0, 1.2] vs 0.6 [0, 1.4], respectively [p=0.0344]; <bold>Table</bold>). Most baseline characteristics were not different between pts who reduced to AIR only vs pts using high-, medium- or low-dose ICS/formoterol. Although a statistically significant difference was observed between ACQ-5 scores, both groups were well controlled at baseline. A supervised trial of ICS/formoterol reduction in pts controlled on benralizumab would allow physicians to monitor pts in practice. <fig><object-id>erj;64/suppl_68/PA5354/F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><graphic></graphic></fig>