Rilzabrutinib for patients with moderate-to-severe asthma with uncontrolled symptoms: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 study

Abstract

Background: Uncontrolled symptomatic asthma is a substantial challenge for patients despite optimised treatment. Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) plays a key part in immune cell signalling involved in airway inflammation, and its inhibition might improve asthma control. We aimed to explore the effects of BTK inhibition by oral rilzabrutinib on asthma control as well as safety in participants with moderate-to-severe asthma with uncontrolled symptoms.

Methods: This double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 study, which was done at 48 centres across 13 countries, enrolled people aged 18-70 years with physician-diagnosed moderate-to-severe asthma for at least 12 months with uncontrolled symptoms on inhaled glucocorticoids plus a long-acting β₂-adrenergic agonist. In two staggered cohorts, participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to rilzabrutinib 800 mg per day orally or matching placebo (low-dose cohort), and rilzabrutinib 1200 mg per day or matching placebo (high-dose cohort), with background therapy gradually withdrawn by weeks 4-9 and resumed at week 12. The primary endpoint was the proportion of participants with a loss-of-asthma-control (LOAC) event during treatment and was assessed in the modified intention-to-treat population, which included all randomly assigned participants who received at least one dose of study drug. A key secondary endpoint was asthma control assessed by the 5-item Asthma Control Questionnaire in the modified intention-to-treat population. Safety was assessed in all randomly assigned participants who received at least one dose of study drug. The trial was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05104892.

Findings: 310 participants were screened for eligibility, with 196 (122 female and 74 male) randomly assigned in the low-dose cohort between Jan 6, 2022, and Feb 22, 2023 (32 to rilzabrutinib 800 mg per day and 32 to placebo) and randomly assigned in the high-dose cohort between Feb 23 and Nov 14, 2023 (64 to rilzabrutinib 1200 mg per day and 68 to placebo). Over 12 weeks, LOAC events occurred in 12 (38%) participants with rilzabrutinib 800 mg per day versus 16 (50%) with placebo (relative risk reduction 25%; absolute risk difference 12·3%; odds ratio 0·57 [95% CI 0·20-1·61], p=0·29); and 12 (19%) with 1200 mg per day versus 20 (29%) with placebo (relative risk reduction 36%; absolute risk difference 8·8%; 0·58 [0·25-1·35], p=0·21). Asthma control improvements were observed as early as week 2 with rilzabrutinib compared with placebo and sustained up to week 12 without background therapy (least-squares mean difference -0·59 [95% CI -1·07 to -0·10], p=0·018, for the 800 mg per day group; -0·54 [-0·86 to -0·21], p=0·0013, for the 1200 mg per day group). The most frequent adverse event with rilzabrutinib was diarrhoea. No increase in infections was observed with either dose of rilzabrutinib.

Interpretation: BTK inhibition with rilzabrutinib was associated with a numerical decrease in LOAC events that was not statistically significant. However, continued meaningful asthma symptom improvements over 12 weeks were observed, despite background therapy withdrawal, potentially identifying a novel mechanism to treat uncontrolled symptomatic asthma.

Funding: Sanofi.