The drug, benralizumab, is a biologic that works by killing white blood cells called eosinophils. These are present in large numbers in such patients, and they have been linked to severe asthma.
If approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, benralizumab would join two similar drugs -- mepolizumab(Nucala) and reslizumab (Cinqair) -- in fighting hard-to-control asthma, the researchers said.
"We can offer patients who frequently require courses of oral corticosteroids and have a certain level of eosinophils [an allergy-related cell easily measured in the blood] a very effective treatment," said study author Dr. J. Mark FitzGerald. He is a professor of respiratory health at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
"With the right patient with the right characteristics, we can significantly modify the level of asthma severity," added FitzGerald, who had a hand in both trials.