Severe Paediatric Asthma Collaborative in Europe: real-world data on children on biologics

Introduction Real-world data on children with severe asthma is scarce. We report characteristics of children with severe asthma already on biologics, enrolled in the Severe Paediatric Asthma Collaborative in Europe, a clinical research collaboration of the European Respiratory Society. Methods We describe patient’s characteristics including asthma control assessed with Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) criteria, composite asthma severity index (CASI), exacerbations, unscheduled medical attendances, lung function and quality of life in children on biologic treatment because of severe asthma. We also assessed previous biologics use. Forced expiratory volume in 1 s, CASI, GINA, Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire score, exacerbations, unscheduled medical attendance and hospital admission comparisons in patients treated with different biologics were adjusted by age, sex and biologic therapy duration. Results Among the 250 children (median age 13.2 years) recruited, 56.8% used omalizumab, 21.6% mepolizumab and 21.6% dupilumab. At enrolment, the dupilumab group was older (median 15.0 years), while the omalizumab group had been on biologic treatment the longest (median 622 days). Overall, 27% and 8% had partly controlled and uncontrolled asthma respectively, according to GINA. In the last 12 months, 52% and 29% had at least one and two exacerbations, respectively; airflow obstruction was found in 33%. 10% were admitted to hospital due to exacerbation. A previous switch from another biologic was recorded in 16%, predominantly due to nonresponse. Conclusions Most children on biologics obtained good symptom control, but many still experienced asthma attacks. Switching between biologics was substantial. There is still an unmet need in severe paediatric asthma.