GSK's Asthma Drug Nucala Shows Promise in Treating Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Opening New Growth Avenue

SmartCom APP learned that Nucala, a best-selling asthma drug from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.US), has shown positive effects when used to treat another chronic lung disease, potentially opening up a new growth avenue for the product.

Nucala was first approved in the U.S. in 2015 for the treatment of severe asthma and is now the company's top-performing drug, with sales last year reaching £1.7 billion ($2.24 billion).

This British pharmaceutical company stated that a high-level trial conducted among some adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease showed that, compared with the placebo control group, Nucala demonstrated statistically and clinically significant reductions in the rate of moderate and severe exacerbations. Patients received treatment for up to two years.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a life-threatening inflammatory respiratory condition that causes airflow obstruction, currently affecting over 300 million people worldwide. Episodes of recurrent exacerbations or sudden worsening of symptoms can damage the lungs and require hospitalization. GSK stated that this may create a vicious cycle of overall physical health deterioration, worsening symptoms, reduced quality of life, and increased mortality.

As of press time, GSK was up 0.63% in pre-market trading and has risen 19% over the past year.

Notably, until recently, there had been more than a decade without new therapies for this disease. Dupixent from France's Sanofi (SNY.US) has recently been approved in Europe as an add-on treatment for certain patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

GSK said that in addition to inhaled maintenance therapy, 806 people in the trial also used the Nucala monoclonal antibody. The pharmaceutical company released the main data of this study, and the complete results will be announced later.