Initiation, response assessment, and switch of antibody therapies in patients with severe asthma – A survey among German specialists

BACKGROUND: For therapy of severe asthma 5 monoclonal antibodies have been available in Germany up to November 2022, but no clear rules exist on choice of initial therapy, assessment of response, and switch.

OBJECTIVE: To assess current practice on all aspects of biologic therapy by specialists in Germany.

METHODS: A questionnaire was created by specialists for severe asthma, which was tested and modified by further experts.

We invited 119 pulmonologists of the German Asthma Net (GAN) to complete the survey and used SoSci Survey and SPSS for data collection and analysis.

RESULTS: Forty-seven pulmonologists took part in the survey with a median annual number of patients treated with biologics of 35, 55% worked in an outpatient practice, and 40% in a hospital.

Exacerbations and oral steroid use were the most important factors for the decision to start a biologic therapy.

Accordingly, these parameters were also the most relevant for assessment of response.

Most participants considered type-2 inflammation biomarkers and comorbidities (foremost CRSwNP and AD) for choosing initial biologic.

Asthma Control Test (ACT) was the most common instrument for assessing status of disease control.

There was no consensus on thresholds for response of pulmonary function tests including FEV1, FVC, and RV.

Eighty-five percent of participants distinguished between “responders”, “partial responders” and “non-responders”.

Comorbidities played an important role for the decision to switch to another biologic, eg, when initial therapy had insufficient effectiveness on CRSwNP.

CONCLUSION: This study provides a detailed insight into current opinions and practice of biologic use in severe asthma in Germany.