Fortnightly dupilumab with standard therapy leads to rapid and sustained improvements in asthma control for 6-11 year-olds with moderate to severe type 2 asthma, research shows.

International doctors say children who responded to the monoclonal antibody had fewer exacerbations, while quality of life improved for both patients and caregivers.

“Improved asthma control may have important implications for reducing exacerbation-associated systemic [glucocorticoid] use, hospitalisations or ED visits,” they wrote in the European Respiratory Journal.

They analysed data from the 2021 VOYAGE trial, funded by Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, which involved 408 children aged 6-11 with uncontrolled moderate to severe asthma who were treated with dupilumab or placebo fortnightly for 52 weeks in addition to standard therapy.