Severe Paediatric Asthma Collaborative in Europe: real-world data on children on biologics

  • Norrice M. Liu*
  • , Mariëlle W. Pijnenburg
  • , Antoine Deschildre
  • , Ines de Mir-Messa
  • , Sigve Adalen
  • , Flore Amat
  • , Luna Antonino
  • , Priscille Biermé
  • , Maynor Bravo-Lopez
  • , Karin C.L. Carlsen
  • , Silvia Carraro
  • , Pierrick Cros
  • , Celine Delestrain
  • , Carolina Diaz Garcia
  • , Ralph Epaud
  • , Grazia Fenu
  • , Valentina A. Ferraro
  • , Louise Fleming
  • , Laurence Hanssens
  • , Anouk Heine
  • Géraldine Labouret, Maria Chiara Leoni, Amelia Licari, Enrico Lombardi, Alejandro Lopez Neyra, Christophe Marguet, Julie Mazenq, Santiago Pérez Tarazona, Juan Carlos Ramos Díaz, Cyril Schweitzer, Elena Spada, José Valverde Molina, Stijn Verhulst, Stéphanie Wanin, Franca Rusconi
*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)
10 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Introduction:

Real-world data on children with severe asthma is scarce. We report characteristics of children with severe asthma already on biologics, enrolled in the Severe Paediatric Asthma Collaborative in Europe, a clinical research collaboration of the European Respiratory Society. 

Methods:

We describe patient’s characteristics including asthma control assessed with Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) criteria, composite asthma severity index (CASI), exacerbations, unscheduled medical attendances, lung function and quality of life in children on biologic treatment because of severe asthma. We also assessed previous biologics use. Forced expiratory volume in 1 s, CASI, GINA, Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire score, exacerbations, unscheduled medical attendance and hospital admission comparisons in patients treated with different biologics were adjusted by age, sex and biologic therapy duration. 

Results: 

Among the 250 children (median age 13.2 years) recruited, 56.8% used omalizumab, 21.6% mepolizumab and 21.6% dupilumab. At enrolment, the dupilumab group was older (median 15.0 years), while the omalizumab group had been on biologic treatment the longest (median 622 days). Overall, 27% and 8% had partly controlled and uncontrolled asthma respectively, according to GINA. In the last 12 months, 52% and 29% had at least one and two exacerbations, respectively; airflow obstruction was found in 33%. 10% were admitted to hospital due to exacerbation. A previous switch from another biologic was recorded in 16%, predominantly due to nonresponse. 

Conclusions: 

Most children on biologics obtained good symptom control, but many still experienced asthma attacks. Switching between biologics was substantial. There is still an unmet need in severe paediatric asthma.

Original languageEnglish
Article number00709-2024
JournalERJ Open Research
Volume11
Issue number3
Early online date23 Jun 2025
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 23 Jun 2025

Bibliographical note

Copyright ©The authors 2025 This version is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence 4.0.

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