United States – In the COPD, or smoker’s lungs treatment, British drugmaker GSK (GSK. L) stated on Friday that the asthma drug Nucala successfully achieved the main goal in the late-stage study.
Connection to Smoking
Nucala, together with an inhaled maintenance therapy, showed a significant improvement in reducing the annualized moderate or severe exacerbation rate compared to placebo, according to GSK, as reported by Reuters.
It results in conditions of restricted airflow and breathing difficulty and is referred to as ‘smoker’s lungs’ because, in most developed nations, COPD is prevalent among cigarette smokers.
Impact and Sales Performance
Nucala is a monoclonal antibody that targets interleukin-5 — a protein that regulates eosinophils which, when present in abundance, leads to inflammation of the lungs.
GSK noted that COPD impacts over 300 million individuals, and some 24 to 40% of them show type 2 inflammation indicated by high blood eosinophils numbers, as reported by Reuters
Mepolizumab branded as Nucala got its approval in 2015 for a certain type of severe asthma within the United States. Its sales increased by 18% to 1. 7 billion pounds in 2023. It accounted for nearly 6% of total global sales of GSK in the year ended December 2010.