Welcome to the eighth issue of the Refractory Asthma Stratification Programme (RASP-UK) newsletter, you can download the latest issue [1].

All of our core studies have now completed their clinical phase and our work strand teams are busy analysing this data. We are working hard to get our knowledge management platform established as well as working with our partners to analyse our bio-banked samples. Some of our plans have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic but we are aiming to deliver more results in 2020. We hope to share the top-line data from the WS4 MEX and MAPLE studies with you via an on-line meeting on 27 August 2020.

Data from our biostratification study became available as 2019 ended. Although the data demonstrated that we had not met our primary endpoint for the Intention-to-Treat population, our pre-specified Per-Protocol analysis, which excluded potentially confounding data from participants who couldn’t (for one reason or another) follow the protocol, was positive and consistent with our pre-study assumptions. In addition, it was clear from further analysis of patients who could follow the protocol that those who reduced treatment according to biomarker directed therapy showed no evidence of clinical deterioration, despite being on lower corticosteroid doses.

Update reports are also provided on:

• Work-strand 1: Biostratification Study
• Work-strand 2: Bronchoscopy Study
• Work Strand 3 The Study of Mechanisms of Action of Omalizumab in Severe Asthma
• Work-strand 4 Progress Update: reports are provided on the MEX, MAPLE and BenRex studies.

Our manuscript detailing with our primary findings of Work-strand 1 is currently being considered for publication in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal.

References

1. RASP-UK consortium newsletter #8