Biologic Therapy and Asthma

Although airway inflammation is an intrinsic and key feature of asthma, this response varies in its intensity and translation to clinical characteristics and responsiveness to treatment. The observations that clinical heterogeneity is an important aspect of asthma and a feature that likely dictates and determines responses to treatment in severe asthma, patient responsiveness to medication is incomplete, and risks for exacerbation are increased. The development of biologics, which target selected and specific components of inflammation, has been a promising advance to achieve asthma control in patients with severe disease. This article reviews the current biologics available and under development and how their use has affected asthma and which subpopulations appear to benefit the greatest.