New drug can prevent exacerbations of asthma due to common cold: Trial report

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDApr 22 2012

For the tens of thousands of asthma sufferers in the UK there is a “breakthrough” drug that reduces complications caused by the common cold, it is claimed.

Severe symptoms due to cold infections are one of the chief reasons why asthma patients end up in hospital. A trial of the new drug from IP Group plc - Portfolio company Synairgen, SNG001 (inhaled interferon beta), found it significantly reduced asthma symptoms during the critical first week of infection.

The clinical trial looked at the effect of SNG001 in a population of 134 adult patients with “mild-moderate” to “severe” asthma who caught a cold. Those with “difficult-to-treat” asthma, about half the total, benefited significantly from the treatment.

There was a 65 per cent reduction in the number of treated patients experiencing moderate worsening of their asthma, while patients taking placebo had greater loss in lung function. SNG001 contains interferon beta that occurs naturally in the body, which is inhaled via a nebuliser to stop the virus taking hold in the lungs.

Chief investigator Professor Ratko Djukanovic, from the University of Southampton, said, “This trial, conducted by several UK academic respiratory experts, provides the first evidence of an effective anti-viral drug that can boost the asthmatic patient's immune system to fight viruses and thus significantly reduce the impact of virus infections on asthma control. Southampton University scientists, who made the discovery of innate immune deficiency in asthma, have long suspected that the need to correct the deficiency is greatest in patients with severe asthma: we now have compelling evidence that this is the case.”

Professor Stephen Holgate, the founder of Synairgen, said, “This is the first clinical study which appears to demonstrate that, by boosting the antiviral defences of the lungs of asthmatics...we can...prevent worsening of asthma symptoms in a high risk group of patients.” “Not only have we established the potential of SNG001 as a novel treatment for viral exacerbations in difficult to treat asthma but also a crucial link between viral infection, asthma symptoms and severity of disease.” He said evidence suggests the drug could be used against swine flu and other viruses as a powerful broad spectrum antiviral respiratory drug in lung diseases such as COPD and pandemic flu.

The trial was co-funded by Asthma UK, whose assistant director of research, Leanne Metcalf, said, “This has the potential to be one of the biggest breakthroughs in asthma treatments in the past 20 years. We are incredibly excited by the possibilities this research could bring to reduce hospital admissions and deaths as a result of asthma attacks. Over 80% of asthma attacks are triggered by cold and flu viruses, and until now we haven't had any effective treatments that can stop this from happening. This clinical trial demonstrates the potential of this anti-viral drug to prevent asthma attacks for thousands of people with severe asthma.”

There are 5.4 million asthmatics in the UK according to Asthma UK and 25.7 million in the USA according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).