A team of international researchers has found a drug injected under the skin effectively treats asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and reduces the need for further treatment.

Dr Sanjay Ramakrishnan, from UWA’s Medical School and the Institute for Respiratory Health, was lead author of the paper published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

“Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can be life-threatening, and symptoms do not always improve after using an inhaler,” Dr Ramakrishnan said.

“In the past 50 years there have been no new treatments that help improve the management of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease attacks.”

Steroid tablets can reduce the inflammation in the lung and airways that causes an asthma attack but have severe side-effects, such as steroid-induced diabetes and osteoporosis.

Half of patients need more steroids within 30 days while two-thirds need a repeat treatment within 90 days.

Benralizamab, an antibody that targets specific cells, is currently used for the treatment of severe asthma.

The ABRA phase two clinical trial showed a single dose of Benralizumab effectively treats asthma attacks and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease flare-ups when injected at the time of an attack.

“We found that it was effective in treating the attack and also meant fewer episodes that resulted in the patient needing to see a doctor or go to hospital,” Dr Ramakrishnan said.

“Instead of giving everyone the same treatment, we focused on at high-risk patients with a targeted treatment.

“The risk of asthma attacks happening again was reduced by 40 per cent and afterwards patients required less frequent treatment.”

Scientists from King’s College London are now planning a phase three trial of the study.