Sanofi
Dupixent® (dupilumab) PBS listed for severe uncontrolled asthma in patients 12 years and older
Sydney – 28 March 2021 – Australians who struggle to breathe due to severe uncontrolled asthma will, for the first time, have access to Dupixent – a therapy that targets a type of inflammation in their airways called 'type 2 inflammation'.1
From 1 April, Dupixent will be listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for approximately 1,700 Australians2 aged from 12 years who live with severe uncontrolled asthma caused by type 2 inflammation (allergic or eosinophilic).1
Patients with severe asthma produce high levels of proteins called interleukin 4 and interleukin 13 (IL-4 and IL-13), triggered when the body's immune system overacts to an allergen or infection. IL-4 and IL-13 can cause the type 2 inflammation leading to disease symptoms, which occurs in 50-70 per cent of patients with severe asthma.3,4
Dupixent is the first and only therapy that blocks the action of IL-4 and IL-13 to relieve disease symptoms1 in severe asthma. It is used in addition to other asthma medications.
Associate Professor David Langton, Peninsula Health Director of Thoracic Medicine said, said, "Despite treatment advances, the struggle to breathe impacts the daily life of Australians who live with uncontrolled severe asthma," he said.
"Many of these patients are already on high-dose steroid therapies but continue to wheeze, cough and have difficulty breathing because the underlying cause of inflammation remains untreated. This puts some at risk of life-threatening asthma attacks.
"It's a positive step forward to have another treatment option for some patients with uncontrolled disease."
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