Blood eosinophil count as a biomarker for therapy guidance in COPD and asthma exacerbations
., 2012), an acute biologic therapy trial using benralizumab (ABRA, 2025) and a long-term biologic therapy trial using mepolizumab (COPD-HELP, 2025). The biomarker-directed corticosteroid study demonstrated non-inferior symptom improvement while reducing steroid exposure, highlighting the potential to personalise therapy based on BEC. The ABRA trial showed that a single injection of benralizumab reduced treatment failure, prolonged time to exacerbation and improved symptom scores in patients with high eosinophils. By contrast, the COPD-HELP trial found no significant effect of mepolizumab on readmission or mortality, despite substantial eosinophil reduction. Limitations include small sample sizes, heterogeneous populations and reliance on surrogate end-points in some studies. These findings support the use of BEC-guided therapy in acute settings but suggest that long-term biologic treatment post-exacerbation may not improve hard outcomes. Future research should focus on precision medicine strategies targeting eosinophilic exacerbations and identifying patient subgroups who benefit most from biomarker-guided interventions.
Authors
- Augusta S. Beech (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2690-5364)
- Anuradha Nalika Godallage
- Jens‐Ulrik S. Jensen
- Pradeesh Sivapalan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8620-3655)
- Melika Valizadeh
- Dil Afrose (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3513-8225)
Institutions
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Gentofte Hospital (DK)
- IQVIA (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Masih Daneshvari Hospital (IR)
- Wythenshawe Hospital (GB)
- Medicines Evaluation Unit (GB)
- Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (IR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Breathe
- Published
- 2026-04-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1183/20734735.0329-2025
- Primary Topic
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00