PHOENIX — New results from a separate, larger phase 3 trial confirm the benefits of dupilumab (Dupixent) in adults and adolescents with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), showing that weekly injections of the biologic sent 59% of EoE patients into disease remission after 24 weeks. The late-breaking data on Part B of the LIBERTY EoE TREET study drew a standing-room-only crowd at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) annual meeting.
EoE is a chronic, progressive, type 2 inflammatory disease resulting from esophageal build-up of eosinophils, which injures the tissue and leads to swallowing difficulties. Dupilumab, a monoclonal antibody that blocks IL-4 and IL-13, two parts of the type 2 immune response, is currently approved to treat poorly controlled atopic dermatitis, asthma, and chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis.
Dupilumab also showed benefits in patients with hard-to-treat EoE in a phase 3 trial (LIBERTY EoE TREET 28-week extension of Part A), reported by Medscape Medical News in October from the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) annual meeting.
Part B enrolled 159 EoE patients 12 years or older and tested the efficacy and safety of weekly 300 mg dupilumab vs placebo injections for 24 weeks. More than half of the participants had previously tried swallowed topical corticosteroids, and about 30% were on a food elimination diet.
