Dupilumab Reduces Oral Corticosteroid Use in Patients With Corticosteroid-Dependent Severe Asthma: An Analysis of the Phase 3, Open-Label Extension TRAVERSE Trial

Many patients with severe asthma require chronic corticosteroid treatment to maintain asthma control. Are the reduction in oral corticosteroid (OCS) use and the clinical efficacy observed with dupilumab treatment maintained long-term in patients with severe OCS-dependent asthma? The LIBERTY ASTHMA TRAVERSE study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02134028) was a multinational, multicenter, single-arm, open-label extension study in patients ≥ 12 years of age with asthma who participated in previous dupilumab studies. Treatment consisted of dupilumab 300 mg every 2 weeks for up to 96 weeks. In this analysis, we present the data from patients who initially enrolled in the LIBERTY ASTHMA VENTURE study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02528214), a 24-week placebo-controlled study of dupilumab in patients with OCS-dependent severe asthma, and continued in the TRAVERSE study. The subgroups analyzed were: those who received dupilumab in both (dupilumab/dupilumab group) and those who received placebo in the VENTURE study and dupilumab in the TRAVERSE study (placebo/dupilumab group). Outcomes included OCS use, exacerbation rates, and measures of lung function and asthma control. Ninety patients treated with dupilumab/dupilumab and 97 patients treated with placebo/dupilumab in the VENTURE study were enrolled and treated in the TRAVERSE study, with a mean OCS dosage of 11.0 mg/d (dupilumab) and 11.6 mg/d (placebo) at VENTURE study baseline. At TRAVERSE week 0, the mean daily OCS dosage was 3.1 mg/d and 6.4 mg/d (percentage decrease from the VENTURE study baseline, 68.8% and 41.3%) for the dupilumab/dupilumab group and placebo/dupilumab group, respectively, and decreased to 2.2 mg/d and 4.9 mg/d (78.3% and 53.4%) at week 48 and to 1.2 mg/d and 3.0 mg/d (89.3% and 74.4%) at week 96, respectively. Exacerbation rates were low during the TRAVERSE study. Further improvements from the VENTURE to TRAVERSE studies also were seen in FEV and 5-item Asthma Control Questionnaire scores. Safety findings were consistent with the known dupilumab safety profile. In the open-label TRAVERSE study, dupilumab demonstrated the ability to sustain the OCS dosage reduction from the parent OCS-sparing study, while maintaining a low exacerbation rate and improved lung function. ClinicalTrials.gov; Nos.: NCT02134028 (TRAVERSE) and NCT02528214 (VENTURE); URL: www. gov.