Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the leading causes of death in the United States, with over 16 million adults with the disease—and many more who may not know they are afflicted. Image credit: SewcreamStudio | stock.adobe.
com COPD can greatly reduce quality of life among patients, causing symptoms such as coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath, which can make everyday activities such as walking or going up stairs cumbersome and painful. As there is no cure for the disease, strong treatment options are essential to mitigating the effects on patients. Recently, dupilumab (Dupixent; Sanofi, Regeneron), a fully human monoclonal antibody, has emerged as a potential path to producing clinical benefits in patients with COPD.
Dupilumab blocks the shared receptor component for IL-4 and IL-13 pathways that drive type 2 inflammation by promoting high eosinophil counts and increasing inflammatory infiltrates in the lungs. Multiple studies of dupilumab for COPD, specifically for those with type 2 inflammation, have confirmed its effectiveness in this setting. In a 2023 study, Bhatt et al assigned 939 patients with type 2 inflammation COPD in a randomized fashion to receive dupilumab or a placebo.
They found that the annualized rate of moderate or severe COPD exacerbations was 0.78 (95% CI, 0.64-0.
93) with dupilumab and 1.10 (95% CI, 0.93 to 1.
30) with a placebo. Ultimately, they observed that among these COPD patients with high blood eosinophil levels, dupiluma.