NHS chiefs to roll out new medicine for deadly lung illness

On Sep 15, 2024

Published: 01:45, 15 September 2024 | Updated: 01:45, 15 September 2024

A highly effective drug for a debilitating lung disease is set to become the first new treatment for the condition in more than a decade.

The medicine – dupilumab – has been shown to significantly improve the lives of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, also known as COPD.

Research published this year concluded that dupilumab patients saw uncomfortable symptoms like breathlessness and chest infections slashed by a third, compared to taking existing treatments.

Last week, UK drug safety officials approved dupilumab for use – meaning it will now be available privately – and experts predict the NHS will also give it the green light within a year.

Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock in Star Trek, was one of the three million who die globally from the disease each year

‘In my more than 20 years of practice, there have been limited advancements for patients struggling with the effects of uncontrolled COPD,’ says Professor Surya Bhatt, a lung specialist from the University of Alabama.

‘Dupilumab reduced symptoms by a magnitude never seen before.’

UK charities hail the drug as a major advance. ‘It is incredibly positive that new treatments are being developed and undergoing clinical trials, and could soon be made available for people in the UK,’ says Dr Andrew Whittamore, who is the clinical lead at Asthma + Lung UK.

Around 1.4million people in the UK have COPD. The condition occurs when the lungs and airways become damaged and inflamed.

It’s usually associated with smoking or long-term exposure to certain types of harmful industrial chemicals or dust. However, in some cases, patients can get COPD for no clear reason.

The first symptoms are a persistent cough, excessive mucus production and shortness of breath, which can disrupt sleep.

Over time, COPD increases the risk of life-threatening chest infections. NHS patients are usually offered specialised inhalers that lower inflammation.

Lifestyle changes, such as quitting smoking, regular exercise and keeping up to date with vaccines are also recommended.

However, studies show these measures only marginally slow the disease’s progression.

There is no cure and patients will see their symptoms get progressively worse. Around half of COPD patients will not survive more than five years after their diagnosis.

One in five people wait more than a year to be diagnosed with chronic lung conditions, new research from Asthma + Lung UK revealed

Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock in Star Trek, was one of the three million who die globally from the disease each year.

He passed away in 2015 aged 83, a year after being diagnosed, having given up smoking 30 years earlier.

What is COPD?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) describes a group of lung conditions that cause the airways to narrow and become inflamed.

Examples include bronchitis, which affects the airways, and emphysema, which impacts the air sacs.

This makes it harder to move air in and out as you breathe.

Around 1.2million people in the UK are diagnosed with COPD, British Lung Foundation statistics show.

And in the US, 16million people suffer from COPD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It usually develops due to long-term damage to the lungs from smoking or air pollution.

Jobs where people are exposed to fumes, dust and chemicals also raise the risk.

COPD also seems to run in families.

And a rare genetic condition called alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency makes people susceptible at a very young age.

Symptoms include:

In severe cases, sufferers lose their appetite, have swollen ankles, lose weight and may even cough up blood.

COPD is incurable and the damage to the lungs cannot be reversed.

However, treatments can help make breathing easier.

Patients should also quit smoking and maintain a healthy weight.

In the UK, 30,000 people die as a result of COPD every year.

Dupilumab is given intravenously every two weeks in hospital for a year in combination with three different inhalers.

The drug works by blocking two proteins in the body, interleukin-4 and interleukin-13, which are linked to harmful inflammation.

Research presented last week at the European Respiratory Society Congress in Austria found that as well as reducing severe symptoms, dupilumab improved lung function overall and quality of life.

While it is too early for researchers to know exactly how much longer COPD patients on dupilumab live, experts say it is almost certain that, due to the reduction in dangerous infections, the effect is significant.

Dupilumab for COPD is under review by the NHS spending watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, with a decision expected within the next year. It is already available on the Health Service for treating several inflammatory conditions including severe asthma and eczema.

Experts say the drug is a major breakthrough in cutting the ‘endless cycles of serious symptoms’.

‘I did not expect the results we found in the trial. It is incredible compared with what is already on the market,’ says Dr Christian Gessner, a lung expert from the University of Leipzig who led the landmark study.

‘It is really significant because as well as working for people with uncontrolled COPD, dupilumab also works as an add-on therapy alongside medicines that are already helping patients, reducing those symptoms, improving lung function and boosting quality of life.’

One patient who stands to benefit from dupilumab is Felicity Payne, 67, from Eastbourne, Sussex. The former teacher and gran was diagnosed with COPD eight years ago, as a non-smoker, after feeling ‘short of breath all the time’ and suffering repeated infections.

Doctors have been unable to find Felicity an effective treatment.

She has also been left with long-term side-effects from a steroid- based inhaler.

After trying five different drugs, she says: ‘I’m looking forward to the new treatments. The developments are definitely promising.

‘It is great that there is going to be a new way of doing things as nothing I have tried has been effective. I know one person on the trial for dupilumab and it was remarkable. It has given him his life back, so I can’t wait.’