New hope for asthma sufferers

A new asthma drug, omalizumab, has been deemed too expensive to be prescribed to patients by the NHS, despite the fact that it could wipe out the need to treat asthma with steroids.

There are currently over 5 million people suffering with asthma in the UK and a large percentage of them are reliant on oral steroids, typically administered by inhalers.

The new drug is administered by injection rather than by an inhaler, which has also been criticised recently.  The new drug could cost the NHS £12,000 a year for each patient based on fortnightly injections.

In a study conducted by the University of Manchester, over 60 percent of patients with severe asthma reduced their dependence on the oral steroids after taking omalizumab for 12 months. Half of these people stopped taking the steroids altogether.

Inhaler administered steroids can have very serious side effects, especially as many patients are reliant on them for many years. The steroids work as an anti-inflammatory for the lungs but have been linked to a number of serious conditions including weight gain, diabetes, and depression. In children there is also evidence that it can cause growth retardation.

Due to the cost of omalizumab, the NHS are only allowing around 1,000 asthma sufferers to use the drug. However Dr. Robert Niven of the University of Manchester, who co-wrote the paper for this study, has said that the NHS has not calculated the long term cost of prescribing steroids. He believes that if the NHS added up the amount of money it costs to treat the side effects of taking oral steroids later on in life, there is a good chance that omalizumab may be more financially viable.

Asthma charities are intending to campaign for the NHS to work with them and increase the number of people who are eligible for the drug.