A34-12 Tezepelumab Was Associated With Lower Rates of COPD-related Healthcare Resource Utilization in Patients With Moderate to Very Severe COPD With Elevated Blood Eosinophil Counts: Results From the Phase 2a COURSE Study

Abstract Rationale Tezepelumab, a human monoclonal antibody, blocks thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), which is implicated in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) pathophysiology. In patients with moderate to very severe COPD from the phase 2a COURSE study (NCT04039113), tezepelumab treatment resulted in a reduction, compared with placebo, in the annualized rate of moderate or severe COPD exacerbations among patients with a baseline blood eosinophil count (BEC) ≥ 150 cells/µL (rate ratio RR: 0.63; 95% confidence interval CI: 0.43, 0.93). This post hoc analysis evaluated the effect of tezepelumab on COPD-related healthcare resource utilization among patients with a baseline BEC ≥ 150 cells/µL. Methods COURSE was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Patients (40-80 years old) with moderate to very severe COPD were randomized 1:1 to tezepelumab 420 mg or placebo subcutaneously every 4 weeks for up to 52 weeks. The rate of COPD-related healthcare resource utilization was assessed over 52 weeks in patients with a baseline BEC ≥ 150 cells/µL. Results Overall, 165 patients received tezepelumab and 168 received placebo. In tezepelumab versus placebo recipients with a baseline BEC ≥ 150 cells/µL (tezepelumab: n = 92; placebo: n = 104), annual rates of hospital admission or emergency room visits 24 hours (RR: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.32, 1.38), hospitalization days in general or intensive care (RR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.27, 1.74), emergency room visits 24 hours (RR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.27, 0.99), ambulance transport (RR: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.23, 1.68), visits to a specialist (RR: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.56, 1.12), and visits to a primary healthcare physician (RR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.50, 1.29) were numerically lower (Table). Conclusions In this preliminary analysis of patients with moderate to very severe COPD and a baseline BEC ≥ 150 cells/µL, tezepelumab treatment was associated with numerically lower rates of COPD-related healthcare resource utilization over 52 weeks than placebo. Although larger studies are needed to confirm these findings, this analysis suggests that tezepelumab may be able to reduce healthcare visits in this population of patients with COPD. This abstract is funded by: AstraZeneca & Amgen