Tezepelumab as an Add-on Maintenance Treatment for Severe Asthma: Recommendations and Clinical/Economic Impact.

By Staff Writer

April 25, 2023

Tezepelumab as an add-on maintenance treatment is recommended as an option for severe asthma in people 12 years and over, when treatment with high-dose inhaled corticosteroids plus another maintenance treatment has failed.

It is recommended only if people:

  • Have had 3 or more exacerbations in the previous year, or
  • Are having maintenance oral corticosteroids.

Tezepelumab should be discontinued if the rate of severe asthma exacerbations, or the maintenance oral corticosteroid dose, have not been reduced by at least 50% at 12 months.

Clinical impact:
Clinical trial results show that tezepelumab, when added to usual treatment, reduces exacerbations and the dose of oral corticosteroids needed, compared with placebo. An indirect comparison of tezepelumab with other biological treatments suggests similar clinical effectiveness, but this is uncertain.

Economic impact:
The cost-effectiveness estimates show that Tezepelumab as an add-on maintenance therapy is cost effective compared with standard care and other biological (benralizumab, mepolizumab, reslizumab, dupilumab and omalizumab) treatments.

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