New Treatment for Severe Asthma

A new oral treatment has been developed for severe and difficult-to-treat asthma. The treatment has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Called Zyflo, the treatment works differently than current treatments. It is the first and only approved therapy in a class of drugs called 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) inhibitors. Zyflo interrupts the 5-LO cascade, an inflammatory mechanism in the body that triggers the migration and activation of neutrophils and eosinophils, two key white blood cells that contribute to the symptoms of patients with severe persistent or difficult-to-treat asthma.

In two pivotal clinical studies involving around 5,000 asthma patients, Zyflo showed the ability to alleviate asthma symptoms, improve lung function, reduce the frequency and severity of exacerbations requiring oral corticosteroid therapy, and improve the quality of the patient's life. Zyflo was developed by Critical Therapeutics, Inc. (Lexington, MA, USA). The company is also developing treatments directed toward the severe inflammatory response in acute diseases and conditions that lead to admission to the emergency room or intensive care unit, and other chronic diseases that often lead to
hospitalization.

"According to the American Lung Association, more than half of the estimated 20 million asthma patients in the United States do not have their asthma under control despite existing guidelines for the diagnosis and management of the disease,” said Paul Rubin, M.D., president and CEO of Critical Therapeutics. "We believe Zyflo represents a safe and effective treatment option for some of these patients.”




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Critical Therapeutics