D2.147 - Comparison of clinical outcomes with Benralizumab in severe eosinophilic asthma: Switched and naïve patients

Benralizumab is a biological agent with proven efficacy and approval for the treatment of severe eosinophilic asthma, and it is the most recently introduced biologic in Turkey. The primary aim of the study was to compare the clinical responses of patients who had not previously received a biological treatment with those who switched to benralizumab from another biologic. 

The study retrospectively included adult patients diagnosed with severe asthma who received benralizumab at a tertiary care adult allergy clinic between December 2022 and December 2024.The patients’ clinical and laboratory parameters at baseline, including FEV1 values, asthma control test (ACT) scores, and SNOT-22 scores, were compared at baseline, week 16, and 1 year.

A total of 31 patients were included in the study, of whom 21 (67.7%) were female. The mean duration of Benralizumab treatment was 10.5±2.5 months. Of the patients 10 (32.3%) had been switched from omalizumab or mepolizumab, while the remaining 21 (67.7%) patients were biologically naïve. All patients (100.0%) had rhinitis, while nasal polyps were detected in 35.5%. Both biologic-naïve and switched patients showed significant improvements in FEV1, ACT, and SNOT-22 scores at the 16th week of benralizumab treatment. None of the patients in the biologic-naïve group experienced an exacerbation during the follow-up period. Switched patients experienced a significant reduction of exacerbation frequency from a mean of 3.3 ± 1.9 to 0.2 ± 0.4 (p = 0.007).

Patients demonstrated significant improvements in FEV1 (L), FEV1 (%), ACT score, and SNOT-22 score; however, no statistically significant difference was observed between the two groups. These findings suggest that both biologic-naïve patients and patients who switched to benralizumab achieved comparable clinical improvements. The nearly complete depletion of eosinophils appears to play a key role in severe asthma control, regardless of prior biologic use, though long-term monitoring remains essential.