Asthma Drug Cuts Need For Steroid Pills While Keeping Attacks In Check

TUESDAY, June 2, 2026 (HealthDay News) — A recently approved asthma drug can help those with asthma take fewer steroid drugs while keeping attacks under control, according to clinical trial results.

People taking tezepelumab (Tezspire) were nearly three times more likely to achieve greater reductions in daily steroid use while maintaining asthma control, compared to those on a placebo, researchers reported recently in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

“Long-term oral corticosteroid use can have devastating consequences for patients, including diabetes, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease and significant impacts on quality of life,” said lead researcher Dr. Michael Wechsler, director of the Cohen Family Asthma Institute at National Jewish Health in Denver.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved tezepelumab in 2021 for maintenance treatment of severe asthma, according to Drugs.com. Individuals with asthma self-inject the drug once a month.

Tezepelumab works by blocking thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), an inflammation-triggering chemical known as a cytokine. By blocking TSLP, the drug can ward off asthma attacks prompted by multiple different triggers.

For the new study, researchers recruited 122 people taking steroids for their asthma and assigned roughly two-thirds at random to take tezepelumab. The rest were provided a placebo.

During a 28-week treatment period, 69% of patients taking tezepelumab were able to cut their steroid pill dose by half or more, compared to 44% of those on placebo.

In addition, 35% of patients on tezepelumab were able to completely stop taking steroids, compared to 21% in the placebo group, the study found.

“These findings are important because they show that patients with severe asthma treated with tezepelumab may be able to substantially reduce their dependence on oral steroids without sacrificing asthma control,” Wechsler said in a news release.

Researchers noted that the study terminated early due to slow recruitment and did not reach its intended goal of 207 patients.

“Nevertheless, (the trial) was conducted to a high quality, with almost three-quarters of randomly assigned participants completing the study, with early study termination being the most common reason for non-completion,” researchers wrote in their paper.

The drug’s makers, AstraZeneca and Amgen, funded the clinical trial.

More information

The American Lung Association has more on managing asthma.

SOURCES: National Jewish Health, news release, May 28, 2026; The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, May 28, 2026