• Ian D Pavord, Pascal Chanez, Gerard J Criner, Huib A M Kerstjens, Stephanie Korn, Njira Lugogo, Jean-Benoit Martinot, Hironori Sagara, Frank C Albers, Eric S Bradford, Stephanie S Harris, Bhabita Mayer, David B Rubin, Steven W Yancey, and Frank C Sciurba.
• From the Respiratory Medicine Unit and Oxford Respiratory Biomedical Research Centre, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford (I.D.P.), and Clinical Statistics, GlaxoSmithKline, Uxbridge (B.M.) - both in the United Kingdom; the Department of Respiratory Medicine and CIC Nord, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France (P.C.); the Department of Thoracic Medicine and Surgery, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia (G.J.C.); the Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Tuberculosis, University of Groningen and University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands (H.A.M.K.); the Pulmonary Department, Mainz University Hospital, Mainz, Germany (S.K.); the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Duke University, Durham (N.L.), and the Respiratory Medical Franchise (F.C.A.) and the Respiratory Therapeutic Area (E.S.B., S.S.H., D.B.R., S.W.Y.), GlaxoSmithKline, Research Triangle Park - all in North Carolina; the Department of Pneumology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire-Université Catholique de Louvain, Namur, Namur, Belgium (J.-B.M.); the Division of Allergology and Respiratory Medicine, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo (H.S.); and the Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh (F.C.S.).
• N. Engl. J. Med. 2017 Oct 26; 377 (17): 1613-1629.

BackgroundPatients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with an eosinophilic phenotype may benefit from treatment with mepolizumab, a monoclonal antibody directed against interleukin-5.MethodsWe performed two phase 3, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group trials comparing mepolizumab (100 mg in METREX, 100 or 300 mg in METREO) with placebo, given as a subcutaneous injection every 4 weeks for 52 weeks in patients with COPD who had a history of moderate or severe exacerbations while taking inhaled glucocorticoid-based triple maintenance therapy. In METREX, unselected patients in the modified intention-to-treat population with an eosinophilic phenotype were stratified according to blood eosinophil count (≥150 per cubic millimeter at screening or ≥300 per cubic millimeter during the previous year). In METREO, all patients had a blood eosinophil count of at least 150 per cubic millimeter at screening or at least 300 per cubic millimeter during the previous year. The primary end point was the annual rate of moderate or severe exacerbations. Safety was also assessed.ResultsIn METREX, the mean annual rate of moderate or severe exacerbations in the modified intention-to-treat population with an eosinophilic phenotype (462 patients) was 1.40 per year in the mepolizumab group versus 1.71 per year in the placebo group (rate ratio, 0.82; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.68 to 0.98; adjusted P=0.04); no significant between-group differences were found in the overall modified intention-to-treat population (836 patients) (rate ratio, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.85 to 1.12; adjusted P>0.99). In METREO, the mean annual rate of moderate or severe exacerbations was 1.19 per year in the 100-mg mepolizumab group, 1.27 per year in the 300-mg mepolizumab group, and 1.49 per year in the placebo group. The rate ratios for exacerbations in the 100-mg and 300-mg mepolizumab groups versus the placebo group were 0.80 (95% CI, 0.65 to 0.98; adjusted P=0.07) and 0.86 (95% CI, 0.70 to 1.05; adjusted P=0.14), respectively. A greater effect of mepolizumab, as compared with placebo, on the annual rate of moderate or severe exacerbations was found among patients with higher blood eosinophil counts at screening. The safety profile of mepolizumab was similar to that of placebo.ConclusionsMepolizumab at a dose of 100 mg was associated with a lower annual rate of moderate or severe exacerbations than placebo among patients with COPD and an eosinophilic phenotype. This finding suggests that eosinophilic airway inflammation contributes to COPD exacerbations. (Funded by GlaxoSmithKline; METREX and METREO ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT02105948 and NCT02105961 .).

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