To summarise the efficacy and safety of 2 years of anti-interleukin-5/receptor (anti-IL-5/R) therapy in patients with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA). Patients were randomised 1:1 to receive benralizumab or mepolizumab every 4 weeks during the 52-week double-blind period of the MANDARA trial. Patients entered an open-label extension (OLE) in which they continued benralizumab (benralizumab/benralizumab) or switched from mepolizumab to benralizumab (mepolizumab/benralizumab). Remission (Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score = 0 and oral glucocorticoid OGC dose ≤4 mg/d), OGC use, relapse, blood eosinophil count (bEOS), and safety up to year 2 (week 104) were reported. A total of 128 patients entered the OLE period (n = 66 benralizumab/benralizumab; n = 62 mepolizumab/benralizumab). At week 104, 41 (62.1%) benralizumab/benralizumab patients and 42 (67.7%) mepolizumab/benralizumab patients were in remission. During OLE year 1, 51 (77.3%) benralizumab/benralizumab patients and 42 (67.7%) mepolizumab/benralizumab patients had no relapses. By weeks 49 to 52, 27 (40.9%) benralizumab/benralizumab patients and 16 (25.8%) mepolizumab/benralizumab patients had withdrawn from OGCs, increasing to 29 (43.9%) and 27 (43.5%) at weeks 101 to 104, respectively; the median cumulative OGC dose was 950 mg and 791 mg during OLE year 1, respectively. The median bEOS among benralizumab/benralizumab-treated patients was 20 cells/µL (at weeks 52 and 100), and in mepolizumab/benralizumab-treated patients, it decreased from 70 cells/µL to 20 cells/µL 4 weeks after switching. Adverse events/serious adverse events were reported in 97.0%/22.7% of benralizumab/benralizumab and 100%/35.5% of mepolizumab/benralizumab patients. In patients with EGPA, treatment for 2 years with anti-IL-5/R therapies is associated with durable rates of remission, discontinuation of OGCs, bEOS depletion, and low relapse rates. Switching from mepolizumab to benralizumab enhances bEOS depletion and OGC sparing.
Merkel et al. (Fri,) studied this question.