Dupilumab for COPD tied to improvement in health-related quality of life

Dupilumab improves health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and type 2 inflammation, according to a study presented at CHEST 2024, the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians, held from Oct. 6 to 9 in Boston.

Surya P. Bhatt, M.D., from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues pooled data from two phase 3 trials evaluating the efficacy and safety of subcutaneous add-on dupilumab 300 mg or placebo every two weeks in 1,660 patients with COPD and type 2 inflammation (screening blood eosinophils ≥300 cells/µL), with moderate-to-severe airflow limitation, who were on triple therapy.

The researchers report that mean symptom domain scores were 59.3 for dupilumab versus 58.6 for placebo, mean activity scores were 66.3 versus 65.8, and mean impact domain scores were 38.2 versus 37.3. The least-squares mean difference at week 52 versus placebo was −3.366. For individual St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) domain mean scores, similar improvements were seen at week 52 (mean symptom domain score least-squares mean difference for the change from baseline to week 52 versus placebo, −3.502; mean activity domain score, −3.997; mean impact domain score, −2.870).

“Impairment in HRQoL is a significant contributor to morbidity in COPD,” the authors write. “These data demonstrate that dupilumab improves HRQoL, as measured by the SGRQ, in patients with COPD and type 2 inflammation.”

Several authors disclosed ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Sanofi and Regeneron, which manufacture dupilumab and funded the research.

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