[New drugs for severe asthma]. / Les traitements du futur de l'asthme sévère.

ABSTRACT

Asthma is a very frequent disease with complex and heterogenous immunological and clinical features. Daily inhaled steroids are the cornerstone of the current therapeutics sometimes associated with long-acting ß2-agonist. This controller treatment is effective and allows to control asthma symptoms for the vast majority of the patients. Severe asthma is characterized by a poor level of control of symptoms, with recurrent exacerbations or a chronic airflow limitation despite an optimal management. Severe asthma remains a difficult diagnosis but we have now studies proving the clinical efficacy or promising data about monoclonal antibodies targeting IgE, IL-5, IL-4 or IL-13. Most of these monoclonal antibodies target the Th2 type eosinophilic inflammation without any treatment against non-eosinophilic or Th1 inflammation. Last, it will be essential to assess accurately the cost effectiveness of these expensive treatments, to identify and to qualify the target population for each molecule and to assess its financial impact for the community.