A new research study, (PROCLAIM), funded by the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, has now commenced at Nottingham University Hospitals and the University of Nottingham.
What is the purpose of the study?
Asthma affects 8% of the entire population. 4-5% of asthma sufferers have severe asthma, characterised by recurrent exacerbations (worsening of symptoms leading to the person having a bout of corticosteroids and/or antibiotics), significant symptoms and lack of response to the most widely used therapy, corticosteroids.
There is now a new type of treatment (an antibody drug) which is licensed to manage severe asthma called anti-IL5. There is evidence anti-IL5 and other similar antibody drugs are effective at reducing asthma exacerbations and reduce the need for oral corticosteroids for those that have severe asthma.
However, some patients respond poorly to anti-IL5 and we would like to find out why this happens. It is hoped that we can identify the mechanism of poor treatment response to anti-IL5. It is also hoped that we can understand why symptoms worsen to the point of requiring antibiotics and/or steroids (also known as an exacerbation) for those prescribed anti-IL5.
This project will also form part of 2 PhDs at the University of Nottingham
The study Chief Investigators (CI) are: Professor Dominick Shaw and Professor Ian Sayers
This study has now fully completed