If your doctor has recommended that you take benralizumab (Fasenra) for asthma, you may have questions about what it is, how it works, and more. Here are answers to some of the most common questions about this drug.
What Is Benralizumab (Fasenra)?
Benralizumab is a prescription medicine that treats serious (severe) asthma. Your doctor might prescribe benralizumab when other treatments don’t control your asthma symptoms well enough.
This medicine lowers the numbers of a type of white blood cells called eosinophils in your blood and lungs. This helps you to breathe better. You get benralizumab as a shot under your skin. You can either give the injection to yourself or get it at a doctor's office.
For your first doses of benralizumab, you’ll get a shot once every 4 weeks. Then you switch to injections once every 8 weeks.
What Is Benralizumab (Fasenra) Used For?
Benralizumab treats a serious type of asthma called eosinophilic asthma in people ages 12 and older. When you have eosinophilic asthma, your body makes too many eosinophils. These cells inflame and narrow the airways to your lungs, which makes it harder to breathe.
Doctors treat eosinophilic asthma with inhaled steroid medicines to bring down swelling as well as drugs to relax your airways. Your doctor might recommend that you add benralizumab if these medications haven't gotten your asthma symptoms under control.
How Does Benralizumab (Fasenra) Work?
Benralizumab is a type of medicine called a monoclonal antibody. Antibodies are proteins your immune system makes to help fight off harmful substances like viruses or bacteria. Monoclonal antibodies are versions of these proteins that are made in a lab.
The medicine attaches to other proteins called receptors on the surface of eosinophils and causes these white blood cells to die. The drop in eosinophils reduces airway swelling and asthma symptoms.
What Does Benralizumab (Fasenra) Target?
Benralizumab targets a chemical called interleukin-5 (IL-5) that your immune system makes. IL-5 helps eosinophils survive and multiply.
People who make a lot of IL-5 have more serious asthma that's harder to control with medicines like corticosteroids. Benralizumab blocks the effects of IL-5 to lower the number of eosinophils in your blood and lungs and relieve your asthma symptoms.
Is Benralizumab (Fasenra) an Immunosuppressant?
Benralizumab is an immunosuppressant, which means that it quiets your immune system. When you have eosinophilic asthma, your immune system reacts too strongly to allergens like dust or pet dander and makes more eosinophils. That overreaction causes symptoms like wheezing and shortness of breath.
Benralizumab treats serious asthma by reducing your immune system response so it doesn't react as much.
Is Benralizumab (Fasenra) High Alert?
High-alert medications have the potential to cause serious side effects, even if you use them the right way. Benralizumab isn’t a high-alert medication. It’s considered a safe drug overall.
What Are the Side Effects of Benralizumab (Fasenra)?
Like any other medication, benralizumab can cause side effects. Most are mild and should get better within a few weeks once your body gets used to the medication.
Some side effects you could have while taking benralizumab are:
- Headache
- Fever
- Sore throat
- Pain, swelling, or itching where you got the injection
Benralizumab treats asthma, but in some people, it can make symptoms worse. Tell your doctor if you have more wheezing, shortness of breath, or other asthma symptoms while you take this medicine.
This medicine is made from a protein. Some people are allergic to this protein. If you have an allergic reaction, you might notice symptoms like:
- Rash
- Hives
- Swelling
- Itching
These symptoms can start right after the injection or hours later. Tell your doctor if you have any of them, because you’ll need to stop taking benralizumab.
Anaphylaxis is a rare but very serious type of allergic reaction. Get medical help right away for symptoms like these:
- Trouble breathing
- Tightness in your throat
- Nausea or vomiting
- Dizziness or fainting
- Fast heartbeat
What Are the Ingredients in Benralizumab (Fasenra)?
Each dose of this medicine contains the active ingredient benralizumab, which is a type of protein. It also contains these inactive ingredients:
- L-histidine, an amino acid
- Polysorbate 20, an emulsifier
- Alpha-trehalose dihydrate, a type of sugar
- Water
How Well Does Benralizumab (Fasenra) Work?
The FDA approved benralizumab based on the results of three phase III clinical trials that looked at how safe and effective it is, compared to a fake treatment called a placebo. People between the ages of 12 and 75 took part.
The people in the study who took benralizumab had fewer serious asthma attacks and were able to take less oral steroid medicine than people who got the placebo. The rate of serious side effects was low.
The studies also showed that benralizumab was as safe and effective in children and teens as it was in adults.
Does Insurance Cover Benralizumab (Fasenra) Injections?
Benralizumab costs more than $5,500 per shot, and no lower-cost generic version is available. Medicare and many private health insurance plans do cover benralizumab. How much you will have to pay out of pocket for this drug depends on your plan.
If your out-of-pocket cost with health insurance is still high, you may qualify for the Fasenra Savings Program. In this program, the drugmaker covers up to $13,000 of your out-of-pocket costs each year. If your health insurance doesn't cover benralizumab at all, or if you don’t have insurance, the company has other programs that may be able to help you afford your medication.
