Amgen, the maker of the Tezpire (tezepelumab) treatment for COPD and asthma, announced that planning is underway for a phase 3 trial and that the results of its phase 2a COURSE trial will be presented at the Clinical Trials Symposium at the American Thoracic Society 2024 International Conference on May 20.
The COURSE phase 2a was a proof-of-concept trial that investigated tezepelumab in patients with moderate to very severe COPD across a broad range of eosinophil levels — irrespective of inflammatory drivers, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and smoking status.
This study did not exclude any patients based on their baseline eosinophil count (BEC) and intentionally enrolled patients with a broad range of BECs. Overall, tezepelumab numerically reduced the annualized rate of moderate or severe COPD exacerbations versus placebo by 17%.
“We are excited by these data and optimistic about the potential tezepelumab has for patients with COPD, a condition that continues to have a significant unmet medical need,” said James Bradner, MD, executive vice president of research and development and chief scientific officer at Amgen.
