AstraZeneca’s Tezspire receives approval for asthma treatment

Green light for new asthma pen which offers self-administration option across the EU

AstraZeneca’s (AZ) Tezspire has received a positive opinion from the European Medicine Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP).

It concerns a self-administration treatment in the form of a pre-filled, single-use pen for patients aged 12 years and older with severe asthma. Meanwhile, the CHMP opinion can be implemented without the need for a European Commission decision due to the nature of the type-2 label variation.

The approval for self-administration followed results from the PATHFINDER clinical trial programme, which included results from the PATH-BRIDGE phase 1 trial as well as the PATH-HOME phase 3 trial.

The majority – 92% – of healthcare providers, patients and caregivers were able to successfully administer Tezspire, also known as tezepelumab, both in the clinic setting and at home.

Improvements in asthma control and the safety profile of Tezspire observed in the PATH-HOME trial were consistent with previous clinical trials. Furthermore, the therapy is the only biologic approved for severe asthma with no phenotype or biomarker limitation within its approved label.

Mene Pangalos, executive vice president, BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AZ, reflected: “Tezspire is the first and only biologic approved in Europe for patients with severe asthma with no phenotype or biomarker limitation. With the approval of the Tezspire pre-filled pen, we can give patients in Europe greater flexibility and support physicians in treating a broad population of severe asthma patients.”

Professor Ian Pavord, professor of respiratory medicine at the University of Oxford, concluded: “Severe asthma continues to have a debilitating impact for people living with the disease. I believe the approval of the Tezspire pre-filled pen will be welcome news for physicians and patients in Europe as it offers increased choice and greater flexibility when administering this important medicine.”

AZ is confident that a regulatory decision by the US Food and Drug Administration on self-administration and the new pre-filled pen will follow in the first half of this year. Tezspire is currently approved for the treatment of severe asthma in the US, EU, Japan and other countries.