THE number of people who suffer severe asthma attacks and need to stay in hospital for treatment could be halved with the introduction of a new injection treatment.

Drug regulators will today grant a licence for the use of Xolair, known generically as omalizumab, as a groundbreaking treatment for asthmatics. Clinical trials suggest that the drug cuts hospital admissions by nearly half and reduces asthma attacks in patients who suffer a severe form of the condition by 55 per cent.

The UK has one of the highest rates of asthma in the world. More than 1,400 people die from it every year, and 69,000 have to be treated in hospital. Asthma costs the NHS £889 million a year.

Xolair was approved for use in the United States in June 2003 and has also been licensed in Australia, Canada and Brazil.

Stephen Holgate, Professor of Immunopharmacology at Southampton University, said: “This is a breakthrough for the treatment of difficult-to-control asthma, where patients can be at risk of death.”

The drug, which is given as an injection to severe asthma sufferers every two to four weeks, blocks the antibody immunoglobulin E (IgE), which is involved in the allergic process in asthma. It is designed as an additional treatment for patients who suffer from severe, persistent allergic asthma that cannot be controlled with standard therapy.

High profile asthma victims include the actress Charlotte Coleman, who starred alongside Hugh Grant in Four Weddings and a Funeral. Ms Coleman died of an attack in 2001, at the age of 33.

According to the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood study, a third of British 13 to 14-year-olds experienced wheezing during one year.

The drug, developed by Novartis, is recommended for patients with persistent allergic asthma who have severe problems such as reduced lung function, despite using high dose inhaled treatments.

Asthma UK, the leading asthma charity, also welcomed the new drug. “For 90 per cent of people with asthma, existing treatments should be effective at controlling asthma,” a spokeswoman said. “For the remaining 10 per cent, their asthma is difficult to control and these people often experience the most severe symptoms and the highest use of emergency services.”

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