The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved reslizumab for use with other asthma medicines for the maintenance treatment of severe asthma in patients aged 18 years and older. Reslizumab is approved for patients who have a history of severe asthma attacks (exacerbations) despite receiving their current asthma medicines. Asthma is a chronic disease that causes inflammation in the airways of the lungs. During an asthma attack, airways become narrow making it hard to breathe.
Severe asthma attacks can lead to asthma-related hospitalizations because these attacks can be serious and even life-threatening. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of 2013, more than 22 million people in the U.S. have asthma, and there are more than 400,000 asthma-related hospitalizations each year. Health care providers and their patients with severe asthma now have another…
