Real-world effectiveness of dupilumab versus benralizumab and mepolizumab

Introduction: In the United States, this real-world study compared the effectiveness of dupilumab, benralizumab, and mepolizumab in reducing exacerbations and systemic corticosteroid (SCS) prescriptions among patients with asthma. Methods: Patients (≥12 years old) who initiated dupilumab, benralizumab, or mepolizumab (index) between November 2018 and September 2020 were identified by using electronic medical record data. Subjects were included if they had ≥ 12 months of data before and after the index date and two or more severe asthma-related exacerbations before the index date. Differences in baseline characteristics were addressed by using inverse probability treatment weighting (IPTW). Pairwise comparisons between dupilumab and benralizumab, or mepolizumab were conducted by using negative binomial regression, adjusting for baseline rates and unbalance characteristics (≥10% standardized differences) after IPTW. Results: Overall, a total of 1737 subjects met all criteria: 825 dupilumab, 461 benralizumab, and 451 mepolizumab initiators. In the postindex period, dupilumab was associated with a 24% and 28% significant reduction in the risk of severe asthma exacerbations versus benralizumab (incidence rate ratio [IRR] 0.76 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.67-0.86)] and mepolizumab (IRR 0.72 [95% CI, 0.63-0.82]), respectively. In addition, dupilumab treatment significantly reduced SCS prescriptions by 16% and 25% versus benralizumab and mepolizumab, respectively (p