OBJECTIVES: There are limited real-world data describing the patient characteristics and treatment patterns of initial recipients of tezepelumab, which was approved by the FDA in December 2021. This study aims to assess pre-utilization patient characteristics and asthma treatments among these patients.

METHODS: This retrospective cohort study utilized the IQVIA open-source pharmacy and medical claims databases. Patients with ≥1 pharmacy/medical claim for tezepelumab between December 17, 2021 and August 31, 2022 were identified (first claim date = index-date). Eligible patients were ≥12 years of age, had ≥12 months of continuous data available pre-index and had severe asthma as defined by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). Patient characteristics including use of asthma medications were assessed during the 12 months pre-index, including the index-date.

RESULTS: Overall 1,926 patients were eligible for the study (mean age: 57.7 years; 70.8% female). Common respiratory comorbidities included allergic rhinitis (49.8%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (33.4%), sleep apnea (28.6%), and nasal polyps (3.3%). Hypertension (44.3%), dyslipidemia (29.9%), gastroesophageal reflux disease (29.4%), and diabetes (26.3%) were other common comorbidities. Roughly half of patients (50.8%) had no prior biologic therapy. Among those with evidence of prior biologics (n=947), most (86.5%) had received only one, and 12.7% had two. Other asthma medications received included short-acting beta-agonists (84.0%), leukotriene receptor antagonists (69.0%), combination inhaled corticosteroid/long-acting beta-agonist ICS/LABA (64.8%), long-acting muscarinic-antagonist LAMA (35.3%), combination ICS/LAMA/LABA (41.5%), and ICS monotherapy (28.9%).

CONCLUSIONS: Initial users of tezepelumab were predominantly older, female patients, with a high burden of respiratory comorbidities, consistent with what would be expected for a population of uncontrolled severe asthma patients. Future studies assessing outcomes following tezepelumab treatment are planned.